Mia
by Hikari Sword
Summary: *OC Centric* Mia is a young trainer that challenges Ash for his title of World Champion Master, but is the title really what she's after? She has two weeks to figure out a team to challenge him, and more. CH4: A mysterious trainer appears to see if Mia is strong enough to be worth Ash's time. CH14: Team Comet invades the training ground to capture all the rare and powerful Pokemon.
1. The Challenger

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON!**

 **Author:** I've been debating about whether or not to go through with this, I have a bad habit of leaving stories midway for long periods of time. But this thing's been in my head for a while and with new Pokemon games coming out soon it won't leave. A fair bit of warning though, I'll be winging this thing and writing whenever I can (which really isn't much). So I'll be stalling the final chapters as I try to figure out how to do them. Expect filler chapters, one off cameos for a quick joke or scene and some general fanfic nonsense.

XXX

* * *

A young woman with an Espeon watches the TV featuring two powerful Pokemon battling.

Somewhere in the room is a table with a picture. The picture is of herself with her Espeon, Ash and his Pikachu, and a young girl happily holding an Eevee.

On the TV is a similar looking young man with a Pikachu on his shoulder, battling a girl with silky bright purple hair in a long waist length ponytail sticking out under her red and white cap. Wind from an attack flaps her bright purple pants and blue vest. She straightens up the collar of her lilac and white long sleeved shirt as the dust settles. Right next to her side is a Jolteon.

"Wow!" The announcer screams out. "I've never seen a Championship match so intense before! Both the Kanto Champion and his challenger are giving us a battle that will be surely remembered! But it's not over yet! Both combatants can still call on one more Pokemon! This next fight is the finale!"

"Return!" A young man recalls his downed Pokemon into its ball. "You did great, take it easy for now."

"Return!" his opponent calls back her own Pokemon. "Thank you, you deserve to rest."

"Well," the young man with the Pikachu tells his opponent. "This is certainly something."

"Pika!"

"Yeah," the girl responds happily. "It makes things much more interesting, I'm tingling all over."

"Jolt!"

"Then let's finish this," the young man motions his arm.

The Pikachu on his arm nods. "Pika!" It jumps down towards the field, cheeks sparking.

"It's up to you," the girl speaks to her Jolteon.

The Jolteon nods. "Jolt!" It runs to the field opposite of the Pikachu.

"Alright Sis," the challenger closes her eyes. Her Jolteon does the same. _Let's do this. Together!_ Both of them open their eyes simultaneously.

"Quick Attack!" _Quick Attack!_

Both Pokemon charge forward at blazing speed, their impact creates bright sparks in the air. Every clash they have sends more electricity into the air, as the battle intensifies ground debris is flown out at every impact. Jolteon is hit on the side by Pikachu's attack.

The challenger feels a slight jolt on her side.

"Thunderbolt!" The Champion calls out.

"Piiikaaa…" Pikachu's cheeks spark out.

 _Get out of there!_

"CHUUUU!" A powerful electrical blast flies from Pikachu to Jolteon, tearing up the ground it flies above.

Jolteon dodges the blast, if only barely.

 _That was too close Sis. But we can't let up, hit it back with Pin Missile!_

Jolteon's fur stands up, she lets out a yell and her fur fires forward.

"Dodge it!" The Champion yells, Pikachu complies.

 _Rapid fire! Don't give him time to recover!_

Pikachu runs around the field as hard as he could while Jolteon fires off more needles.

"Double Team!" The Champion calls.

Pikachu suddenly multiplies, completely surrounding Jolteon. The yellow spiked Pokemon stops firing out of confusion.

 _Don't let it get to you sis. He isn't attacking yet._

A few more copies appear around Jolteon, whom stands firm, getting ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Quick Attack! Now!" the Champion orders.

 _From the left! Move!_

Jolteon sees one of the Pikachu's charging forward and leaps away.

"Thunderbolt!" The Champion raises an arm.

Pikachu fires another strong Thunderbolt where Jolteon will land. The spiky Pokemon gets hit as it lands. The ground around it tears up slightly.

"Ngh!" The Challenger cringes slightly, as if feeling pain in her body.

Instinctively Jolteon fires off Pin Missile again at the Pikachu. Pikachu easily evades the attack.

 _Quick-Quick Attack!_

Jolteon follows the command. Pikachu is rammed into the air.

 _Double Kick!_

Jolteon jumps up and kicks Pikachu away. Pikachu is rolls on the ground but gets his footing before stopping. Both Pikachu and Jolteon stare at each with determined looks in their eyes.

"That attack really stung," The Challenger speaks under her breath. "Well, I suppose I should've expected it from _his_ Pokemon. And yet-"

"No matter how many times I see it," the Champion speaks out to his challenger. "That ability still impresses me. To be able to give commands to your Pokemon directly into their head is very convenient."

"There are limits," The Challenger humbly replies. "Using it really drains me. If I use it too much I need to nap."

The Champion smiles. "But that's not the only thing you can do with your ability is it? There's something else, something deeper. I've seen your battles in the Indigo Plateau Conference, all three times you've attended, as well as your battles against the Elite Four. I've noticed a difference in your Pokemon's power whenever you use it."

The Challenger's hands twitch a little, realizing that the Champion had figured it out.

"Your ability not only allows you to give commands to your Pokemon directly, you can also strengthen them through that link." The Champion happily explains what he knows. "Very few trainers can claim to have bonds that strong."

The Challenger is trying to find the words.

"It's a wonderful thing to see, to experience," The Champion continues. "And yet, I know that there is much more to it." He holds a hand to his side, reminding her of a pain she felt earlier in the battle. "Are you ready to continue?"

"In a battle, I'm always ready!"

The young woman smiles as she sees the strong, determined look on the girl's eyes. On her first journey, her first Indigo League Conference, she had only managed the top 16. After travelling through Johto and Hoenn, participating in their Conferences, the girl returned and reached the top 4. Then she journeyed through Sinnoh and Unova, taking part in their tournaments, returning to challenge in the Indigo Conference once more. This time she had conquered the tournament and spared no time in taking on the Elite 4. While the battles against the Elite 4 were tremendous in their own right, the challenger displayed extreme growth from her journeys as well as during the battles themselves.

It all cumulates here, with her battling the Kanto Champion. And yet, this is not what the challenger is aiming for, she has her sights aimed even higher…

The arena is covered in an electric explosion. Jolteon and Pikachu fly away from each other, their feet reaches the ground and they slide to a stop.

"Haa… haa…" The Challenger breathes hard after the collision, she quickly wipes her lips, leaving a small red stain on her hand, then looks on the battlefield. _Sis, are you okay?_

"Jol!" The Jolteon replies with what strength it has. Though the trainer can see that she is barely keeping together.

"You okay there?" The Champion asks his partner.

"Pika!" The Pikachu responds with gusto despite the damage and fatigue.

 _This is going to be it, get ready Sis!_

"Jol!" Jolteon stances herself for any kind of command that may come her way.

"Alright buddy," The Champion takes initiative. "Use Double Team!"

Pikachu multiplies itself while moving closer to Jolteon.

 _Jump into the air and use Pin Missile. Don't aim, just fire everywhere. But gather a large cluster in one of the corners._

"Jool-" Jolteon leaps into the air, her fur spiking up. "Teeoon!"

Jolteon's needles fly down in every direction and stick out of the ground, Pikachu's doubles vanish one after another until only one remained.

"Use Quick Attack to break through!" The Champion commands.

Pikachu flies upward, its speed aura knocks away any needles aimed at him. Jolteon is knocked higher into the air.

 _Quick Attack! Hurry!_

Jolteon recovers in midair and charges straight downward.

"Spin and dodge!" The Champion yells.

Pikachu manages to twist its body into a spinning motion, Jolteon narrowly misses its attack and lands on her feet.

"It's open!" The Champion cries. "Finish it with Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaa-" Pikachu's cheeks spark up greatly.

 _Avoid it!_

"CHUUUU-!"

Jolteon barely avoids the large lightning blast. The area where she stood was torn asunder.

 _Don't stop!_

Jolteon moves as the electric bolt starts to chase her. Jolteon runs around the needle ridden field as fast as she could to avoid the attack as it rips out the ground. She was running out of places to run as she headed towards a corner full with Pin Missile needles. However…

 _Now! Quick Attack!_

Jolteon stops running and dashes towards the Thunderbolt.

"What is she-?" The Champion didn't have a chance to realize what is happening. The Pin Missile from earlier became miniature lightning rods, weakening the Thunderbolt as it tore up the field. The attack had gotten small enough that a large amount of needles split the singular large Thunderbolt into multiple electric arcs. "No way!"

Jolteon swiftly dashes through the electric arcs, she jumped up and tackled the Pikachu, keeping her head buried in its chest.

 _Double Kick!_

Jolteon pulled her head back, she flips over to strike Pikachu down with her glowing hind legs. The Pikachu flew straight to the ground with a loud thud.

 _Alright Sis…_ The Challenger and Jolteon both closed their eyes. _It's all or nothing…_ Then, in perfect sync, they open with a look of sheer determination. "Thunderbolt!"

"JOOOOL…" A large lightning bolt strikes Jolteon from above, covering her in yellow energy. "TEEEOOON!" Jolteon sends the electric power straight down towards the Pikachu.

The arena fills up with electricity, the field is ripped apart from the force. Both the Champion and the Challenger shield their eyes from the blast and debris. Dust clouds cover the field.

When the quaking stops, everyone falls silent.

 _Sis, hang in there for a little longer…_ The Challenger drops to one knee and starts panting.

The cloud begins to clear up, both Pokemon are seen barely able to stand. The two trainers know that they can't give anymore commands. The air was still filled with electricity, sparks appeared around the Pokemon. The two of them exchanged acknowledging smirks.

Jolteon's legs wobbled, she was on the brink of collapsing.

 _Sis… we have to… reach them…_

Jolteon caught itself from falling over, steadying herself to stand firm.

"Pika…" The Pikachu falls backwards, eyes all swirly.

"Pikachu is unable to battle," the referee calls out. "Jolteon is the winner!"

The entire stadium let out a massive roar.

"What an electrifying finale!" The announcer yells out. "After a heated down to the wire battle, Challenger Mia has defeated Champion Ritchie!"

 _We… we did it… Sis…_

"Jolteon!" Jolteon turns around to smile happily at Mia.

The trainer smiles back and gives a happy chuckle as Jolteon comes up to rub their faces together.

"H-hey," Mia giggles as Jolteon plays with her. "Easy easy!"

"Are you alright Sparky?" They hear Ritchie's voice from the field. He knelt down to pick up his Pokemon.

"Pika…" Pikachu smiles back as best as it could.

"You did great little buddy," The Champion praises his partner. "Just take it easy now."

"Chu…" Pikachu's eyes close as it went into a rest and his trainer tucked him in one arm.

Ritchie walked over to Mia and offered a hand, smiling. "That was the closest battle I've ever had."

Mia took his hand and was helped up onto her feet, though she was still a little wobbly. The big screen in the arena as well as the broadcast close in on the two trainers.

"Whoa whoa," Ritchie managed to catch her. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I just can't believe it…"

"That you're now a Champion?"

"No, I don't want to be a Champion."

"You don't mean-"

"Exactly, I'm going to challenge the World Champion Master. Ash."

The young woman that was watching stands up with a very wide smile on her face. She walks over to the picture followed by her Espeon and picks it up. She touches the picture gently, sliding her fingers on both the young man and the young girl.

XXX

* * *

"Pi?" A Pikachu hears somebody walking closer.

"You know Ash," a Professor walks up behind the trainer amidst the heavy winds and snow. "When most people go away for training, the top of Mt. Silver isn't very high in their list."

"Gary," Ash turns around to greet his old friend while Pikachu on his shoulder waves hi. "What brings you here?"

"You've been challenged Ash," Gary informs him.

"Chu?"

"You could've just called."

Gary walks up to him while pulling out a picture. "I wanted to see your face when you see who the challenger is."

Ash takes the picture and looks closely at it. Pikachu leans over to get a closer look.

"Chaaa!" Pikachu's face fills up with excitement and glee, just like Ash's.

"I've been waiting for this…" Ash smiles.


	2. Confrontaion

**Author:** Okay, so I had to cycle through some ideas before starting this chapter. One was to immediately start the battle between Ash and Mia while every time she brought out her Pokemon she would reminisce about how she caught them and what they've been through. I believed that would be too distracting, having to rely on flashbacks, and to just make stuff up as I go along probably wasn't the best idea. Also, figuring out teams that both Ash and Mia would use, as well as their movesets, strategies, and who to make win how, is proving to be challenging.

The other main idea, the one I went with, is to reveal Mia's team's backstories while she's training, selecting her Pokemon and meeting cameos.

XXX

* * *

Mia and her Jolteon stood at the entrance of an arena after having just arrived in the city. Her hands shook slightly at the thought of what will go down inside in two weeks.

"Jol?" The Jolteon looks up to her in concern.

"This is it Sis, in two weeks we'll be-"

"Are you nervous Mia?" A voice snaps her out of her trance. It was the Kanto Champion Ritchie and he was being accompanied by a young woman dressed in flashy clothes, though her fancy shades stick out the most. Ritchie's Pikachu Sparky jumped down and greeted Jolteon, the two of them started play around with each other.

"Who wouldn't be? Against him."

"I'd be nervous too," the young woman starts. "But I think your time is better off doing something else."

"M-Melody," Ritchie nervously scratches his cheek. "She's right though, what are you going to do for the next two weeks?"

"I was planning to train with all of my Pokemon in Professor Oak's lab," Mia explains. "But the Pokemon League Association wanted me here."

"Why is that?" Melody wonders.

"Probably because this region is where the battle will take place," Ritchie starts explaining. "Both trainers are heavily restricted before the battle, they can't leave the region, they can't catch any new Pokemon, they can't even trade."

"That sounds… incredibly stupid," Melody gives her thoughts. "Why would they do that?"

Ritchie shrugs. "The only reason I can think of is that they consider the World Champion Master challenge a continuation of sorts after the Regional Elite Four and Champion battles. But she can still change her lineup with any Pokemon she's captured and teach them new moves."

"But why Sinnoh?" Mia asks. "Why here? I made the challenge in Kanto after clearing the Indigo League Conference, defeating the Kanto Elite Four and winning against the Kanto Champion."

"True," Ritchie agrees. "In order to challenge the World Champion Master for his title, you have to win a conference tournament, beat the Elite 4, and win against a Regional Champion, sacrificing the Regional Champion title for the challenge."

"Yeesh, that's a lot to get through just to challenge the Champion Master," Melody commentates. "And do you seriously have to give up the Regional Champion title just to challenge the World Champion?"

"It's an incredible risk that many weren't willing to make," Ritchie explains. "Battling a Regional Champion is hard enough, but _him_? He's on a whole different level. There's only been a couple dozen or so challenges for the title ever since the association created it for him. Losing isn't so bad though, the challenger just has to skip the conferences for a year and they can try again if they like."

"That doesn't explain why the battle has to be in Sinnoh," Mia replies.

"Ash was the one who suggested this," Ritchie answers. "We weren't given an explanation as to why."

"You can probably ask him when the battle starts," Melody mentions. "Though I have a good feeling that we all already know the answer to that. Until then, you should focus on preparing yourself."

"I was hoping to train with all of my Pokemon at once back at the Professor's lab," Mia tells them. "So that I can figure out a team. It's going to be a lot harder to build a team if I have to rotate my Pokemon a lot."

"I think I can help with that…" Ritchie motions his hand to point at a vehicle behind him with his thumb.

XXX

* * *

"This is really off the main road," Mia mentions as they drive through a heavily forested area.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Ritchie follows the road as smoothly as he can. "You can see it from here."

In the horizon, through the trees, Mia sees a very large building. It appears to be a grand hotel nestled between forested mountains and a large lake.

"There?" Mia asks in surprise. "That?"

"Yep," Melody answers. "That's where you'll be staying for the next two weeks."

"Huh?"

"It certainly beats a Pokemon Center, don't you think?" Melody smiles.

"Wait, just me?"

"Of course not," Ritchie tells her. "Look closer at the entrance!"

Mia takes a closer look at the entrance of the hotel, she sees Professor Oak waiting for her, alongside all her Pokemon!

"Jol, Jol, Jol!" Jolteon yells out excitedly.

"I don't believe it either Sis!"

When Ritchie stops the car, Mia and her Jolteon immediately get off to greet her friends.

"Everyone!" Mia happily embraces her Pokemon. She quickly pulls out the Pokeballs she has and let out the rest of her Pokemon.

Beedrill, Sandslash, Arcanine, Dewgong, Lapras, Nidoking, Marowak, Rapidash, Houndoom, Hitmontop, Skarmory, Scizor, Steelix, Crobat, Ledian, Stantler, Beautifly, Aggron, Flygon, Altaria, Whiscash, Milotic, Absol, Mawile, Rampardos, Drifblim, Honchkrow, Lucario, Drapion, Rhyperior, Mamoswine, Togekiss, Spiritomb, a differently colored Lilligant, Darmanitan, Jellicent, Chandelure, Mienshao, Golurk, Braviary, Volcarona and Bisharp joyfully celebrates with Mia.

"Long time no see Professor Oak," Ritchie shakes the Professor's hand.

"I told you that you can just call me Gary," the Professor replies.

"Heh, sorry, old habit."

"That's what you said the last dozen times," Gary smiles.

"So, were you able to get him?" Ritchie asks.

"Yeah," Gary answers. "And you should've seen his face, it lit up brighter than an excited Charizard's tail."

"Oh really?"

A giant net swoops down from the air and snags all of Mia's Pokemon except for Jolteon.

"Hey!" Mia looks up to see a Pokemon shaped hot air balloon.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jetson!"

"Jane!"

"Team Comet blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Psyduck! That's right!"

"Team Comet!" Mia yells out.

"Hahaha!" Jane laughs. "With your challenge to the World Master Champion your Pokemon are sure to fetch us a high price."

"Who are they?" Melody asks calmly. "Team Rocket knock offs?"

"Knock offs?!" Jetson yells angrily. "I'll have you know that Team Comet is in no way associated with that inferior bunch of hooligans."

"Yep, they're knock offs," Melody sighs.

"Also we've thought this one through," the Psyduck starts explaining. "That net-"

"Sis! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Jolteeeon!" Jolteon unleashes a powerful electric blast at the Psyduck balloon.

The net glows blue, Mia's Pokemon cry out in pain as Jolteon's attack hits a force field.

"What?" Mia utters in shock.

"As I was saying," the Psyduck continues. "That net drains the energy of anything it captures to power up our little barrier. And with so many powerful Pokemon inside, there's no way you'll be able to break through."

"Ngh!"

"Electivire!" Gary throws a Pokeball and calls out.

"Let's do it Sparky!" Ritchie tells his partner.

Both Electivire and Sparky stand beside Jolteon.

Gary places a hand on the stunned Mia, "Let's try using a combined attack!"

"Right! Sis!"

"Jolteee…" Jolteon prepares to unleash another attack alongside Sparky and Electivire. "-on?"

All three Pokemon stop charging and look around confused.

"Sis? What's wrong?" Mia asks but she feels a tingling sensation on her right arm.

A gigantic yellow blast lights up the sky, heading for Team Comet. The Psyduck balloon's barrier breaks on impact and the trio is electrocuted for a few seconds until their balloon explodes brilliantly.

"Looks like we're blasting off again...!" *ding*

The netted Pokemon drop from the sky.

"Everyone!" Mia runs towards the falling net with Jolteon.

Ritchie tries to follow but is stopped by Gary.

The net's fall is slowed down by a mysterious force until it reaches the ground, Mia's Pokemon hurriedly breaks out of the net to rejoin their trainer.

"Everyone, you're okay," Mia breathes a sigh of relief. But the tingling feeling in her right arm still lingered. She looks toward the top of a nearby cliff, same as Jolteon and all her Pokemon.

There stood a lone trainer, with a Pikachu on his shoulder. His head was tilted low with his cap blocking his eyes. But he looked up slightly to meet with Mia's eyes, he had a wide smile on his face and so did his Pikachu, whose cheeks sparked. The trainer turned around to walk away without a word.

 _Wait!_ Mia wanted to say, but she just tripped over trying to chase him. _Wait! Please!_ Mia sat up, she tried reaching out with her right arm. _Father!_ The lingering feeling in her arm turned to pain and she pulled it back towards herself. She pulled back her sleeve to reveal a large brightly glowing scar. The glow quickly fades away as Ritchie, Gary and Melody catch up to her.

"Mia!" Ritchie calls out. "Are you alright?"

"Y-... yeah," Mia answers slowly. "I'll be fine. I… I just arrived in Sinnoh, I think I'm still tired from the trip. I should take it easy for today."

"The front counter will give you your room keys," Gary explains. "You can take one Pokemon with you but the rest will either have to be in their balls or in the field out back. Any Pokemon left out will have to be in one of the ranch buildings come nightfall. I can take care of your Pokemon, just come see me tomorrow whenever you feel better."

"Thanks Professor, let's go Sis," Mia makes her way to the hotel with her Jolteon while the rest of her Pokemon look on slightly concerned.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Ritchie asks out loud.

"She has Ashana with her," Melody answers. "All we can do is wait."

"She'll bounce right back soon enough," Gary tells them and Mia's Pokemon. "She always does. Come on you all," the Professor addresses Mia's Pokemon "She'll probably worry about you if keep worrying about her. Let's get you roaming out back for a little while. Ritchie, if you don't mind, can you see if we can get increased security around here?"

"Sure thing," Ritchie walks off and pulled out a cellphone.

"I take it you've already invited the guests?" Gary speaks to Melody.

"Some of them already know what's going on and are on their way," Melody answers. "Not everyone can make it but they'll definitely be watching."

"Heh," Gary smirks. "It's going to get pretty lively around here, she'll need all the support she can get." He begins to walk Mia's Pokemon to the back.

"Wait a sec," Melody stops Gary for a moment. "When you went to retrieve Ash, did he have a Pokemon that can use Psychic type moves?"

"Hmm…" Gary crossed his arms to remember. "No, no he didn't. Why?"

"Then that means they're both here," Melody concludes.

XXX

* * *

Ash walks towards the edge of the forest where a smiling young woman, cross armed and leaning against a tree with an Espeon waits for him.

"Was that really necessary?" She asks.

"No," was his answer. "I'm sure all three of them would've been able to break through it themselves."

"You'll unnerve her."

"Is that why you didn't show yourself?"

"She has enough weight on her shoulders just seeing you," the young woman, still cross armed walks away from the tree to get closer to him. "I don't want to add to that."

"She'll be fine, I'm sure of it. She's got some strong friends with her."

The woman walks past him to take a quick peek over the cliff. "Seeing her sister be completely outclassed like that must be upsetting for her. Or was your display intended to give her, give them, a little extra push?" She turns to face him.

Ash stayed silent.

"Always looking for a challenge, aren't you Ash?" the woman opened her arms and placed a hand on his cheek. "Or is it something else?"

Ash turned his face away.

"You still can't forgive yourself for what happened to her, can you?" the woman tries to look into his eyes.

A bit of aura glows on his hands but it disappears quickly. Ash takes her hand and holds it gently.

"You should go to her, Anabel," Ash tells her. "She needs you."

"She'll be fine, I'm sure of it. She's got some strong friends with her." Anabel smiles.

"Heh," Ash smirks.

"Plus, she'll soon be surrounded by even more friends."

"She'll still need you."

"You need me more," Anabel draws her face closer to his.

Ash is at a loss for words.

XXX

* * *

With her hat off Mia pulls out pin holding the rest of hair up. The back length lilac hair flows down, Mia lay on her right side on the bed petting her Jolteon with her left hand. She remembers the event that had happened earlier in the day, she raises her right arm in front of herself and holds it out, visualizing Ash walking away from her. Her Jolteon not dealing any damage to Team Comet's balloon, while his Pikachu destroyed it.

"Even now, I still can't reach him," she mumbles to herself as she pulls back her sleeve to reveal a large scar. "I've come so far. Father… you're right in front of me and yet I still..."

"Jol?" Jolteon brings its head up to look at her face.

"I'm alright Sis," Mia smiles assuredly to her Pokemon. "I'll be alright…" Mia brings her other arm around to snuggle Ashana. "Let's take a break for today."

Both trainer and Pokemon quietly fall asleep.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** I decided to put restrictions on which Pokemon to give Mia, No Electric, Psychic or Pseudo Legendary Pokemon. Electric because Ashana is always with Mia, Psychic out of respect for her mother and Pseudo Legendaries because that'd make making the team too easy/predictable. The two weeks I set really doesn't mean anything, I'll for sure end up having some chapters happen in the same day and some chapters would be vague in time passing. So yeah, until the battle against Ash starts (in 10?, 15?, 20? chapters) it'll be mostly filler, at least it's true to the anime. XD


	3. A New Story

**Author:** Okay, this was kind of rushed. My original intention was to create and bring in Mia's rivals from the various regions, however when planning out the series of events coming out of that I realized not a day would pass within the next 4-5 chapters because they would be just talking to each other (backstories, character building, etc.) or meeting game/anime characters (introductions, questions galore, characters like Flint, Volkner, Janine, Jasmine, Red, Yellow, Lance, Cynthia...).

So I scrapped that idea and wrote this in a hurry. I think that course of action was for the best, as now I can more easily advance the days and put more focus on Mia than the other OCs and limit the cameos. I'm still wondering when and where I can bring in more characters, even if they'll only be relevant for one scene.

XXX

* * *

"Pass it here!" Mia calls to her Pokemon. She and several of her Pokemon, with Sparky, were passing a ball between themselves.

Some of her Pokemon played by the lake, her Milotic made an ice slide for some of the other Pokemon to slide on. Some Pokemon just sat off on their own, resting or meditating.

Ritchie and Melody watch from a distance.

"I can't blame her for wanting to take the day off," Melody says. "After what happened yesterday."

"Not necessarily," Ritchie replies. "She's trying to figure out which Pokemon to take with her into the battle."

"By playing with them?"

"Of course," Gary walks up to them. "What better way to get to know her Pokemon than spending the day with them?"

"Gary," Ritchie greets. "You're going to see them now?"

"Yeah," the professor answered. "He asked me to bring his Pokemon to him, he needs to get ready too."

"I want to meet them too," Ritchie tells him. "But the Association's rules want me to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get any new Pokemon."

"Seriously?" Melody raised an eyebrow at Ritchie.

"I-I didn't make the rules."

"Isn't there a way to restrict their capturing during their challenge?"

"Yep," Gary answers. "The Association already made it so that her Pokeballs won't be able to capture Pokemon. But Ritchie still needs to keep an eye on her. The Association believes that the presence of a Champion, preferably the Champion that the challenger had beaten, would create pressure on them."

"Pressure? From Ritchie? Pfft-!" Melody tried her best to hold back her laughter, but couldn't. "Hahahaha!"

"Hey!" Ritchie gives an annoyed yell at Melody.

"Sorry… sorry," Melody manages to stop her laughter. "That's a good one, Gary."

"Also," Gary says seriously. "You know about the challengers suddenly rescinding their challenges, right? The cause of it is a mysterious trainer, supposedly claiming himself to be at least on par or even better than Ash."

"I find that hard to believe," Melody says.

"There are a lot of strong trainers that don't like the spotlight," Ritchie comments. "The rumors say this guy is just testing the trainers to see if they're actually ready to challenge Ash. We keep an eye on things so that they don't get out of control."

"Some win against him," Gary starts. "Most don't, either way some of them just drop the challenge, win or lose. Ash loses half of his challengers thanks to him."

"Must be a heck of a trainer," Melody comments.

"He openly asks the challengers for a battle, even while a Champion is watching, but he's kept his identity secret. If he shows up here, advise Mia not to bet on his identity. All the challengers that did that have always lost."

"Must be really shy," Melody jokes. "Have you met him Ritchie?"

"Yeah," Ritchie nods. "A few times, he's rude."

"Rude?"

"He kept calling me 'The Weakest Champion'." Ritchie pouts.

"Out of all of the Champions," Gary begins. "Most of Ash's challengers go through you. It's actually quite the accomplishment for a Champion to have a 50-50 win loss ratio."

"Ugh," Ritchie hunches over. "Don't remind me."

"Heh, well, I need to go now, I'll see you later," Gary turns around and waves.

"See you," Ritchie and Melody bids farewell.

"There's someone I promised to meet," Melody tells Ritchie. "You just staying here?"

"I kind of have to," Ritchie answers. "I'll just have my lunch in the hotel. Did anyone tell you when they'll be arriving?"

"The ones that can make it will be coming all week. One of them should be coming soon."

XXX

* * *

"Mm?" Mia groggily opens her eyes, after playing with her Pokemon she took a nap on the field with some of her mons. She sat up, surrounded by some of her Pokemon whom were also asleep. She looks around, some of her mons were still playing, some were play fighting.

"Did you have a nice nap?" An adult male voice asks her.

"Huh?" Mia's eyes were still adjusting. She turns around to see a man sitting under a nearby tree holding a book.

The man smiles and stands up, dusting off his pants.

"Uncle Lucian!" Mia suddenly gets up to give him a quick hug.

"Long time to see Mary," Lucien responds. "I see you and Ashana are doing well."

"Sis and I take care of each other. And it hasn't been that long."

"May be not, but you both definitely grown a lot since your time in Sinnoh. I could see it in your battle against Ritchie."

"Hehe, I was hoping you'd be watching."

"I'm sure everyone in our family was watching. So, are you training?"

"Not yet, I'm still figuring out who I want to use."

"I see, Ritchie said you were playing around back here. I thought you'd be training."

"Ritchie's still here? Is he stalking me?"

"No, no," Lucian held back a chuckle. "There's reason for it, but it's complicated."

"Does have something to do with that girl he's with?"

"Are you talking about Melody?"

"Yeah, I think that was her name. Who is she?"

"Oh, you don't know? Melody is a famous singer."

"Iiii don't keep up with stuff like that."

"Heh, you're more like your father than you know."

"I've heard the stories."

Both of them chuckle for a bit.

"But why is she here? I didn't get the chance to ask, I thought she was just a friend of Ritchie's that just tagged along."

"She is a close friend, not just to Ritchie but your father as well, I'm sure she knows about you too."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not Team Rocket levels but anyone that knows you or your parents would figure it out quick."

"Not like I was trying very hard to hide it," Mia smiles. "Uncle Lucian, did you come here just to visit?"

"Of course not," Lucian answers her. "I came to see this battle with my own eyes. I'm certain that this battle will be one for the history books. Also, Ritchie told me about what happened yesterday. Are you alright Mary?"

Mia instinctively held her right arm, on the scar. "Y-yeah…"

Lucian smiles. "I wasn't talking about your arm." He playfully presses Mia's forehead with his finger as he walks past her.

"Uncle!" Mia angrily yells at him.

"If you need help with your training, I can certainly give it to you."

Mia looks around at her sleeping Pokemon around her. "Maybe later."

XXX

* * *

At a large isolated house surrounded by forests and mountains a car pulls up. The driver gets out, holding a large suitcase. He enters the house and walks up to a person sitting at a table.

"You got them?"

"Right here." The man places the suitcase on the table, opens the case and slides it over to him.

"That's all of them?"

"Like you asked."

The contents of the case are looked over. "Perfect."

"Then I'll come back once you're finished." The man starts to walk away but sees another person leaning at a doorway.

"You know," the person spoke, in a young woman's voice. "You could've made this exchange without making it sound like a mafia deal."

"Sorry," the one at the table speaks. "Couldn't help it Anabel."

The woman smirks, "Sure you don't want to stay for tea Gary?"

"Hmm… I suppose I can stay for a while."

Ash looks over all the Pokeballs in the suitcase as Gary sits down.

"Do you already have an idea of who you want to use?" Gary asks.

"Not yet," Ash replies. "It's been some time since I've used some of these guys."

"Mia's having a difficult time choosing her Pokemon as well," Gary comments. "She has so many close and powerful friends that choosing only a handful is more of a challenge than any battle she's faced."

"And she's been through a lot of difficult battles," Anabel chimes in as she serves tea. "I've only seen the ones on TV and heard about a few of her gym battles but I bet she had some real intense challenges on her adventures."

"Heh, I'm getting excited," Ash picked up the whole suitcase and walked out the back. "Okay everyone! Come on out!" Ash threw all the contents of the suitcase onto the field. All of his Pokemon emerged, all energetic and happy to see their trainer. "It's good to see you all again."

The Pokemon replied in kind.

"Hahaha," Anabel laughed as she walked up right beside Ash. "Come out, my friends!" Anabel's Pokemon joined Ash's on the field.

"Two weeks to train huh?" Ash looks up at the sky. "I wonder how you'll spend it."

XXX

* * *

"Haahaaahaaa," Mia breathed heavily. "Geez Uncle, I'm training, not fighting for my life."

"Sorry, sorry, I still remember when you stopped Team Cosmic. That determined look in your eyes and the strength your Pokemon possessed. Mind control or not, even an Elite Four would have difficulty fending off a Legendary Pokemon with their whole team."

"I wasn't actually fighting it though."

"But defeating it wasn't your goal, you wanted to save it. And like I said, very few trainers would be able to face that Pokemon like you did, let alone be strong enough to free it from being forcibly controlled. If you hadn't, everyone else that was battling Team Cosmic would've been in trouble."

"Guess I'll take that," Mia looks at the setting sun. "We've been at it for a long time, I think it's we should call it a day."

"Agreed," Lucian calls back his Pokemon.

"Okay everybody!" Mia calls out to her Pokemon. "Time to head back."

Lucian observes as Mia gets all her Pokemon back into the designated ranch building.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Mia bids farewell to her Pokemon as she, Lucian and her Jolteon head for the hotel.

"Jol…" Jolteon stops suddenly, looking upwards.

"Yeah, I noticed," Mia replied. "Now! Pin Missile!"

Jolteon fires off Pin Missile at a nearby tree. A figure rushes out to avoid the attack, it stops in front of the three. The figure had the shape of a young woman, around the same age as Melody.

"Who are you?" Mia asks out loud. "Why are you spying on me?"

The woman doesn't answer, she runs.

"Sis! Quick Attack, knock her down!"

"Jol!" Jolteon dashes ahead at high speed.

The woman leaps up into the air, and continues going up. Jolteon stops, unsure of what to do.

"Wha-!?" A stunned Mia watches the woman literally fly away.

"So they're here," Lucian smiles.

"Huh?" Mia stares at her uncle. "Y-you know her?"

"In a sense, let's just head back for now."

When they reach the hotel lobby, they notice Ritchie and Melody talking with the woman they had just seen, except she had a white beret on.

"Hey Mia!" Ritchie greets.

"Y-you!" Mia pointed at the woman.

"Huh?" the woman gives a confused look.

"H-how'd you fly like that?"

"Fly? What are you talking about?"

"You were flying in the air just now! We saw you!"

"What?!"

Melody sighs and facepalms. "I think I know what's happening. Bianca, where's Lati?"

"Lati?" Mia repeats.

Another woman, looking exactly the same as the one Melody was talking to but without the beret, appeared from around the corner.

"Lati!" Bianca raises her voice a little. "How many times do I have to tell you not to pull pranks like that?"

"Some things never change," Melody smiles.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Mia asks.

"This is Bianca," Rtichie introduces. "She's a travelling painter, and an old friend of ours."

"Bianca…" Mia thinks to herself. "You were… one of Ash's rivals in Unova? You're different from the descriptions."

"Huh? No no," Bianca answers. "That's another Bianca. I'm a painter from Alto Mare. This is my friend Lati, she can be a little troublemaker. Especially for me." Bianca sighs.

"So she's the one that was flying?"

"Yes," Bianca nods. "Lati, show them."

The other Bianca starts to dissolve, revealing a Latias.

"A Latias?!" Mia pulls out her Pokedex to scan it.

The Latias hovers towards Mia and playfully rubbed her cheeks on her face.

"Hey, that tickles."

"She likes you," Melody observes.

"You do have your father's eyes," Ritchie compliments. "Probably a similar aura too."

"You knew my father?" Mia asks Latias.

The Pokemon responded with a happy wail.

"Your father helped us out a long time ago in Alto Mare," Bianca explains.

"Sounds like quite the story," Ritchie thinks out loud. "Isn't there an entire series of books on Ash's adventures before he became the World Champion Master?"

"There are, I wrote them," A woman in purple emerges nearby, the group all turn to see who it was.

"Well," Lucian greets. "If it isn't Shauntal."

"Nice to see you too Lucian," Shauntal replies.

"I wasn't expecting to meet you here, what brings you?"

"Research," Shauntal answers. "I'm writing a new book. Or rather, a series if I'm able."

"I see," Lucian glances at Mia quickly. "It's about Mary isn't?"

"Mary?" Shauntal asks.

"I apologize," Lucian says softly. "Let me explain, Mia is the name she registered into the Pokemon League Association. Of course there needs to be a good reason in order for them to allow it. You see…" Lucian stops, and pushes up his glasses. "Hmm…"

"Why'd you stop?" Shauntal questions.

"I was just thinking about how much I should openly say," Lucian answers. "I suppose the one thing we won't be able to hide is the fact that Ash is Mary's father."

"What?!" Shauntal yells.

"You would've found out sooner or later," Lucian tells her. "As for the reason Mary is using an alias, well you can imagine what it would be like for her if everyone knew her relation to Ash."

"I see your point," Shauntal puts a finger on her chin. "So Mary is her real name?"

"It's what our family calls her," Lucian smiles. "Her parents call her different names."

"Eh?" Shauntal turns to Mia. "How do you keep track of these?"

"I got used to it," Mia shrugs. "So you're writing about me?"

"For now I'm focusing on your battle here, your close friends the Pokemon and what pushed you to make it this far. I'll take as much information about your journey I can along the way."

"I do have questions about your accuracy," Lucian comments. "In your books on Ash, you have descriptions of him jumping from the ground onto a hot air balloon, one where he throws a log, among other… questionable feats."

"Haaa," Shauntal sighs. "That's what happens when I use eyewitness accounts several years old. Well, what do you say? I won't bother you during your training, just whenever you feel like it."

"It's a good idea," Lucian chimes in. "Reminiscing about your Pokemon might help you with making your team. Also, Shauntal, like me, is a former Elite Four."

"Really?" Mia wonders.

"Heh," Shauntal smiles. "I haven't battled seriously in a long time. I should at least be a decent training partner."

"I have two weeks," Mia starts. "Like Uncle Lucian said, it might be a good idea to remember what me and my Pokemon have been through so that I can make my team. I don't think spending my two weeks training all the time would be a good idea anyway."

"Great," Shauntal clapped her hands. "With that agreed on, we can start tomorrow. But right now, where's the food? I'm hungry."

"Down that way," Melody pointed. "Don't worry about paying for anything, it's all expenses paid courtesy of the Kanto Champion."

"M-Melody…" Ritchie didn't know what to say as Shauntal, Lucian and Mia wake their way. "Where's Gary?"

"I got a text from Anabel saying that he'll be coming late," Melody answers. "Apparently Ash wanted a full 6 on 6 battle against him. They've been at it for the past hour."

"Wow," Bianca responds. "Gary must be putting up a heck of a fight."

"They have been rivals for a long time," Ritchie starts. "They're probably just enjoying themselves."

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Yeah that whole name thing doesn't make sense, looking back on it. But I'll try to roll with it as I go along. While I always planned to bring back Lucian, Bianca (painter) and Latias, Shauntal was not in the original plan. I guess with this story I feel like bringing in a bunch of new faces that I haven't used before.


	4. A Mystery, A History

Out on the field, Gary, Ritchie, Melody, Bianca, Lati and Shauntal all watch Lucian help Mia train with her Pokemon. Ashana stands with Lucian as his Bronzong lifts up several rocks into the air using its psychic energy. Mia stands with some of her Pokemon; Beautifly, Aggron, Flygon, Altaria, Whiscash, Milotic, Absol and Mawile. The rocks start to spin and whirl around in the air in front of the group.

"Alright guys," Mia tells them all as the rocks spin faster. "Get ready."

Lucian raises his hand for a moment then drops it. "Begin!"

"Fire!" Mia orders her Pokemon

All of her Pokemon unleash their long range attacks or closest equivalent, destroying several of the flying rocks. Some attacks missed, some were too weak, some rocks broke apart into even more targets to hit. They kept going until there were only pebbles left.

"Stop!" Lucian calls out. "Phase 2!"

Mia's Pokemon stop attacking as Bronzong brings up more rocks and surrounds Mia and her Pokemon.

"Now!" Lucian yells.

The rocks close in on them, Mia's Pokemon protect themselves with melee attacks and defensive measures. Mia herself covers her face from debris but does her best to watch her Pokemon.

"Stop!" Lucian tells his Pokemon.

Bronzong halts its assault and Mia's Pokemon relax their guard.

Mia wipes her forehead from sweat. "Phew."

"Did you see what you were looking for?" Lucian asks as he walks over.

"Yeah, that just makes it harder to choose."

"I don't think this is an effective way to pick your Pokemon," Shauntal provides critique. "All your Pokemon did well, and I imagine the rest of your Pokemon will do the same."

"I think you're right," Mia thinks. "I need to figure out another way."

"Stop making excuses for yourself," a mean voice rang the air. The voice belonged to a mysterious traveler, wearing blueish hoodie with a large hood shadowing the top half of his face, but dirty purpleish bangs can be seen.

"You're here," Ritchie

"I'm not surprised that you'd lose again, Weakest Champion."

"Ugh," Ritchie groaned.

"Who are you?" Mia asks.

"Just a travelling Pokemon Trainer," the trainer answers. "I challenge only the strongest trainers, and I know you're going to battle the World Champion Master."

"So you're here to battle me, is that it?"

"It was."

"Was?"

"You're not ready to battle against the World Champion. You're not worth my time."

"What?" Mia's voice raised up while her Pokemon bring up their guard. "Are you saying my Pokemon aren't strong enough?"

"It's not your Pokemon that's the problem," the trainer pointed his finger at her. "It's you."

Mia grits her teeth and clenches her fists. Ashana steps in front of them. Absol calmly walks past Ashana and glares at the trainer.

"I see," the trainer notices something in Absol's eyes. "I guess I'll challenge you after all."

Absol lets out a wail telling Mia that she wants to take this fight.

"Absol?"

Ashana walks up to Absol and they converse. Ashana nods and walks back to Mia.

"Alright," Mia acknowledges Absol.

Ritchie starts walking forward, but Lucian extends his arm to stop him. "Let me, there's something I'd like to see."

"It'll be a one on one battle, agreed?" the trainer laid down the conditions.

"Yeah," Mia nods. "Is there something we can call you?"

"Since you're preparing for battle against the World Champion, call me Dash."

"Dash?" Mia raised her eyebrow. "Who are you really?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dash pulls out a Pokeball. "Ursaring! Stand by for battle."

"Fine, have it your way."

"Then it's agreed," Lucian calls out. "This will be a one on one battle between Mia and her Absol against Dash and Ursaring! Trainers ready?"

Mia gets into a ready stance, "Ready Absol?"

Absol barks in reply and goes into a stance.

Dash just stays silent while his Ursaring growls.

"Let the battle begin!" Lucian signals.

"Ursaring! Focus Blast!"

"Dodge it and use Night Slash!"

Absol avoids the energy blast, charging forward her horn glows.

"Counter with Slash," Dash orders.

The two attacks collide, slicing through the air. Absol uses her speed to come in at all angles. Ursaring manages to defend itself.

"Your Pokemon are strong enough on their own," Dash says. "They don't need you holding them back."

"What are you talking about? If anything we're working together!"

"Are you really? Block," Dash calmly tells his Pokemon.

Ursaring blocks, halting Absol's movement.

"Now Hammer Arm," Dash follows up.

"Use Detect!" Mia calls out.

Absol sees Ursaring's arm coming, land her feet onto and kicks off with his momentum, creating a considerable distance between them.

"Bulk Up," Dash speaks and Ursaring powers up.

"Swords Dance!" Mia tells her Absol, spiritual swords appear around Absol. "Now Night Slash again!"

"Take the hit, and Hammer Arm."

Absol slashes Ursaring across the chest, the bear withstood the attack and countered with a brightly glowing arm. Absol is sent flying.

"Absol!" Mia cries out.

"You panicked," Dash notes. "Knowing that Bulk Up increases both attack and defense, you thought to increase your attack and use your Absol's speed to hit hard first, but you underestimated Ursaring's strength. Now your Pokemon is paying for it."

Mia watches as the bear walks over her downed Pokemon. Ursaring stomps closer and closer.

 _["Sis!" a very young Mia runs over to her fallen Eevee. "Are you okay Sis?" She holds the Eevee tight as the shadow of a large menacing Pokemon draws near.]_

"Ah!" Mia's arm glows and causes pain, she drops onto one knee holding her arm.

"Hm?" Dash watches carefully, noticing the glow.

"What is that?" Bianca asks.

"I don't know," Melody answers.

Shauntal stays silent, observing intensely.

As the pain and the glow subside, Mia looks at the battlefield, Absol is struggling to get up as Ursaring stands over her.

"Finish it," Dash commands. "Hammer Arm."

Ursaring's arm glows, raising it above its head ready to bring it down on the defenseless Absol.

 _[The Pokemon looms above them with a menacing glow in its eyes as it readies to attack. "Sis!" Ione holds Eevee tighter.]_

"Absol!" Mia calls out then shuts her eyes.

Absol jumps the attack at the last moment. Absol comes down with her horn glowing, she slashes Ursaring across the chest, causing it to stumble back a bit.

Mia opens her eyes. _Absol, are you alright?_

Absol nods.

"Synching," Dash comments. "It gives your Pokemon a power boost, but it's not enough. Ursaring! Slash!"

 _Detect!_

Absol dodges Ursaring's wild and fast swings and creates distance between them.

 _Future Sight!_

"Sooooool!" Absol's eyes glow pink and return to normal.

"Focus Blast," Dash commands.

 _Just stay back for now._

Absol jumps away from the blast.

 _Like that, we just need to wait for Future Sight and-_ "Aaah!" Mia feels a sudden sense of pain in her head, she holds her head tight.

"What's going on?" Bianca wonders.

"Feedback," Ritchie answers. "It happens when a synching trainer and a Pokemon aren't in tune with each other."

"It's even harsher on Mia because of her natural ability to synch with any Pokemon," Lucian adds.

"What are you saying?" Mia says out loud. "You want to attack? We can't. He's too powerful to attack directly. Trust you? I do but…"

"Now Ursaring," Dash interrupts. "Focus Blast, to the… left."

Ursaring fires off an energy sphere according to his trainer's directions. A purple blast materializes out of nowhere and crashes into Focus Blast.

"What?"

"I've been through a lot of battles," Dash explains. "If you had kept up your attack, I wouldn't have been able to anticipate Future Sight."

Mia stands silently.

"Ursaring, use Slash!"

Ursaring rushes forward with claws ready.

 _Absol use Dete-_ "Ah!" A sudden pain interrupts Mia. "The link… broke?"

Absol rushes forward with her horn glowing.

"Absol!" Mia calls out.

Absol and Ursaring exchange attacks.

"What are you trying to tell me Absol?"

XXX

* * *

" _Is she going to be alright Nurse Joy?" Mia asks the Pokemon Center lady._

" _She'll be just fine," Nurse Joy answers. "It a good thing you brought her to us, she was really hurt. I'd hate to think what would've happened if you didn't."_

" _Thank goodness."_

" _Where did you find her?"_

" _In the mountain road not too far from here."_

" _That's a major road for delivery vehicles coming into town."_

" _You got that right!" A rough man speaks up. "That Absol has been annoying anyone passing through. We tried chasing it away, but no one in town wanted to hurt it like that."_

" _Do you know why the Absol kept showing up there?" Mia asks._

" _Nobody knows," the man shrugs. "It hasn't hurt anyone, it just keeps bothering people that pass through that road. I guess someone got really fed up with it."_

" _Hmm…" Mia thinks to herself. "Well, it should be fine now. I need to go and challenge the Lavaridge Gym."_

" _I need to make a delivery there tomorrow," the rough man tells her. "But it's too late in the day to start driving there. If you want to rest here tonight I can drive you there tomorrow morning."_

XXX

* * *

" _What's going on here?" the rough man gets out his truck to see a cluster of traffic jam on the road. "A jam? This early in the morning?"_

" _I don't think so," Mia gets out and sees a crowd in front. "Something's happening up there." Mia and Ashana jog ahead. "Excuse me, what's happening?"_

" _There's an Absol that's causing problems," someone answers. "It's not letting anyone through."_

" _An Absol?" Mia pushes forward, hearing the sounds of battle. "Did it escape from the Pokemon Center?" Making her way to the front, she sees Absol battling three trainer's Pokemon. Absol manages to redirect one mon's attack into another mon and then finish off the 3_ _rd_ _mon itself._

" _Return!" the trainers call back their Pokemon. "It can't have much energy left, let's finish it!"_

 _Absol and Mia's eyes meet for a moment, they stare at each other intently._

" _Jol!" Ashana cries at Mia._

" _I know," Mia closes her eyes._ Absol… let me help you…

XXX

* * *

" _No way!" several trainers lay defeated. "How is that Absol so strong?!"_

" _It's like it's been trained," one of them noted. "There's no way a wild Pokemon could battle this many trainers."_

" _It's not over yet!" another batch of trainers walked up. "Let's go."_

" _Wait!" someone cries out. "Do you hear that?"_

 _The crowd rustles around, there was a loud rumbling sound in the air._

" _Over there!" one of them pointed to the mountain ahead._

 _A large chunk of mountain collapses, it was an enormous landslide. It seemed as though the entire side of the mountain was falling down. After minutes of panic and awe, the massive landslide finally stops._

 _Quietly, the Absol leaves the shocked crowd._

XXX

* * *

" _Hey," Mia greets a resting Absol in a grassy field. "Everyone's looking for you."_

 _Absol doesn't respond. Mia and Ashana sits down next to her._

" _You saved their lives, and they know it. They want to apologize and thank you."_

 _Absol still doesn't answer._

" _You're really something, you know. You fought against all those trainers, even though their Pokemon were pretty strong and they outnumbered you. Were you scared?"_

 _Absol placed her paw on Mia's lap._

" _You were scared," Mia smiles, stroking Absol's paw. "But that's okay, you held your ground and battled them all. Because there's something important you needed to do."_

 _Absol looks up at Mia._

" _That's why I'm here. You're a strong Pokemon, so I want to catch you. Will you battle me?"_

 _Absol nods, then gets up to walk to another part of the field._

" _Let's go Sis," Mia gets up with Ashana. "This isn't going to be easy. So let's give it all we've got!"_

XXX

* * *

"Absol…" Mia closes her eyes. _Let's do this. Together._

"Sol!" Absol nods and smirks.

Absol charges forward using Night Slash, pushing back Ursaring.

Dash watches silently until Ursaring's guard is broken and Absol readies for another blow. "Now! Hammer Arm!"

 _Detect!_

Absol jumps away from Ursaring's incoming attack.

 _Now Future Sight!_

"Absoool!"

"I don't think so! Focus Blast!"

Ursaring roars, it fires off an energy orb at Absol. Absol finishes preparing her attack but could not get way from the attack and is engulfed in an explosion.

"AAAHHH!" Mia feels pain all over her body, she drops to one knee, panting. _Now! Swords Dance!_

Absol blows away the smoke by calling forth spiritual swords into itself.

"Ursaring! Bulk Up!" Dash commands.

Ursaring strengthens itself up.

"Now Slash!"

 _Let's do this! With everything we have! Night Slash!_

The two Pokemon furiously exchange blows once again. The damage that Absol took earlier slows it down enough for Ursaring to keep up.

Mia knows that they need a decisive blow, Absol can't last much longer. However she notices Ursaring having difficulty guarding its lower body. _Absol! The legs!_

Absol dashes away for a moment, readying itself for another charge.

"Hammer Arm! Aim low! On my signal" Dash calls out.

Ursaring raises one arm above its head.

 _This is it. GO!_

Absol dashes forward, keeping low to the ground. Her horn glows brilliantly.

"Now!" Dash orders.

Ursaring brings the arm down, Absol swings her head. The two attacks clash. Absol and Ursaring growl and roar to push each other back. Absol's Future Sight appears behind Absol and slams into Ursaring's face causing it to stumble back and get hit by a rising Night Slash.

 _One more time!_

"Ursaring, your other arm, attack!"

Absol jumps ready to take another swing, Ursaring finds his footing and swings his arm. Both attacks hit.

"Gwak!" Mia nearly crumbles over, holding her gut.

Absol is sent flying away, her body crashes onto the ground. Ursaring stumbles around for a moment, then it gives out a triumphant roar to the skies before falling backwards, knocked out.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle!" Lucian calls out. "This match is a draw!"

"Uncle," Mia says softly. "Absol fell first."

"It was called a draw and that's what it is," Dash tells her as he calls back his Pokemon. "But keep this in mind, this is the kind of power that the World Champion Master has, if you can't match that, then just give up." Dash starts to walk away.

"Hold on," Mia calls out, causing Dash to stop. "Before my match with Ash, will you battle me again?"

"You're not withdrawing your challenge?" Dash asks.

"No," Mia shakes her head. "There's something I need to do. And I'm going to fight. Even if he's too strong for me, even if I have no course but to lose. My whole journey was for this chance, I can't just give up now."

"Hmph," Dash silently waves a hand, then walks off.

After some distance, Mia collapses.

"Mary!" Lucian rushes over. "She's exhausted. Her sync with Absol must've been very strong to drain her this much."

"Will she be okay?" Bianca asks.

"She just needs rest," Lucian answers. "And perhaps a doctor to look into the damage she took. How's Absol?"

"Absol's completely knocked out," Melody reports. "But she'll be fine with some treatment and rest."

"That's good to hear," Lucian says as he picks up Mia. "Let's go Ashana. Ritchie, can you get Absol, please?"

"Sure."

"And Gary, can you take care of her other Pokemon?"

"On it, I'll calm them down and have them roaming around for the rest of the day."

"Thanks, I don't think Mary will be in any condition to train again today."

Shauntal watches everyone head back to the hotel, thinking to herself. "There was definitely some story going on between Absol and Mia. But what was that light in Mia's arm? And that Dash, it seems like he knows Ash. Ooooh the mysteries are piling up! I hope she'll be willing to share it with me soon."

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** So, that's one Pokemon down XD. What's really funny is that originally my choices for Mia's team included Milotic, however when writing this chapter I started to lean towards adding Absol to the team. So I had to think about who to cut out, unfortunately Milotic was it. Mainly because the backstory I was thinking of for it wasn't that great (essentially just Mia trying to capture a shiny Pokemon, a wild Feebas jumps into the Pokeball, and it evolves in a Team Comet situation).


	5. Motivation

Melody, Bianca and Lati (disguised as Bianca's mute twin) casually walk through the streets of Tili Bay.

"There's so many buildings here now," Bianca comments. "I still remember how this placed looked all those years ago."

"Yeah, time sure flies doesn't it?" Melody comments. "Heck, from what I hear this place didn't even really start bustling until that tournament. Say, do you still have those paintings?"

"Yeah," Bianca reaches into her bag. "I even brought them along." She pulls out a binder titled 'Tili Bay'. "Do you want to look at them?"

"No, no," Melody answers. "Let's try to save it. Preferably until the party after the battle."

"There's a going to be a party after the battle?"

"And before," Melody tells her. "It's to help keep everyone energized and to wind down."

"How many people are coming?"

"I dunno," Melody shrugs. "Most of them just said that they'll try to make it if they could. Everybody's so busy nowadays that even with the two weeks it'll be tough to get the whole gang back together."

"Did you really call everybody?" Bianca wonders.

"Yeah, most of their numbers and e-mails still work, there's only a few people that I needed to really look up to find."

"And you rented that entire hotel for everybody for two weeks?"

"It's in a nice isolated location, great for training, or relaxing. But the best part is, Ritchie's paying for all of it! You'd be surprised at all the privileges that Champions, and their friends, can get."

Bianca face palmed. "I know we're close friends, but that's really pushing it."

"I don't think he really minds, otherwise he would've said something. He's probably hoping to see as many people as possible come back together, and to be somewhere private so that Mia could train."

"I guess, hey, where's Lati?" Bianca and Melody just noticed that Lati had disappeared. "Oh no."

"And here we go."

XXX

* * *

Out on the isolated hut, 'Dash' walks around the building towards the back, where Ash and Anabel were having a battle between their Infernape and Alakazam

"Alright Infernape," Ash calls out to his Pokemon. "Mach Punch!"

 _Use Focus Punch!_

The two punches clash, pushing the Pokemon apart from each other.

"Flamethrower!"

 _Disperse it with Psychic!_

Infernape blasts a stream of fire towards Alakazam, but the psychic mon stops the flames with its Psychic and spreads it out into the sky.

"What?" Anabel looks at the field, Infernape is gone.

The ground beside Alakazam swells suddenly, both Anabel and Alakazam turn to it surprised when Infernape bursts out of the ground and uppercuts the psychic in the face.

"Great!" Ash praises his Pokemon. "Now Flare Blitz!"

Infernape ingulfs itself in flames then charges forward, ramming the stunned Alakazam hard.

"Kazaaam!" The psychic Pokemon was sent flying back, and it hits the ground knocked out.

"Whoo!" Ash jumps rejoicing. "Great job Infernape!"

Infernape turns back to his trainer and smiles.

"You did great," Anabel comforts her Pokemon. "Rest now."

"Great fight Anabel," Ash praises as he and Infernape walk up to her. "You've been keeping your Pokemon in top shape."

"Thanks, but it's really amazing how quickly you can adapt to your Pokemon, even ones you haven't used in a long time. Oh?"

Anabel looks over to 'Dash' leaning against a tree, Ash and Infernape turn around to see where she's looking.

"How about having a match with me instead," 'Dash' pulls the hood off of his head. "Then we'll see how good you are."

"Hey!" Ash's face beamed brightly, Infernape wailed a bit. "It's been a really long time Paul."

"I'd prefer it to be longer," Paul walks up to Ash and Anabel. "But there are some questions that I want answered."

"Come on Paul, we haven't seen each other in a while and the only thing you want is to talk?"

"Why don't you come inside?" Anabel asks. "You can talk better in there."

"And Anabel's in the middle of baking. I really missed your cooking."

"Hehe, I've been improving since you last visited, I can't wait to see your face when you try it."

The two of them smiled at each other.

"Can we keep the lovey-dovey act down while I'm here?"

"Let get inside," Ash leads. "You can go back to everyone else Infernape."

Infernape nods, gives a quick wail to Paul and head out onto the field.

"Hmph," Paul responds.

Ash and Paul sit on the table as Anabel heads into the kitchen.

"So what is it you want to know?" Ash asks.

"That challenger of yours, Mia," Paul starts, Ash's ears perked. "Who is she?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's pretty young to have gotten this far, all of your other challengers were at least five years older than her. There's something driving her, and I have a feeling it's related to you."

Ash listens but doesn't answer.

"Keeping it a secret? Fine, just know that there's something about her that's pushing her forward. She's not just a trainer looking to get your title, she's after something else. There's a motivation I haven't seen before, and her bonds with her Pokemon are the strongest I've ever felt."

"How do you know this?" Ash wonders. "Did you meet her?"

"I battled her, like I did with most of your recent challengers."

"Wait, you battled my challengers? Is that why some of them have withdrawn their challenges?" Ash stands up.

"They just realized that they weren't worth your time. Let alone mine."

"Man…" Ash sits back down pouting.

"With battling prowess like that," Anabel begins, bringing in food. "I wonder why you're not a Champion."

"I'm not interested in titles," Paul answers. "Just strong trainers. This Mia, her Pokemon are strong alone, she just needs to use them right. Something rattled her before I arrived. After our battle- no, in the middle of the battle, she picked herself up with help from her Pokemon. She's still pushing ahead, almost forcing herself. It's a stubbornness only you can rival."

"This 'motivation' you said she has," Ash questions. "Did you find out what it is?"

"No," Paul replies. "I didn't bother asking, all I can tell is that it has something to do with you." He looks at Ash. "Did you meet her before?"

Ash doesn't answer.

Paul glares at him some more, then turns to look at Anabel. Then back at Ash. "So that's it, huh?"

"Huh?" Ash asks. "What's it?"

"It's a family matter, isn't it? I won't butt in anymore, just prepare yourself for a fight. Her eyes were just like yours all those years ago, she's going to give you everything she's got."

"Good," Ash smiles. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You don't understand, when I say everything, I mean everything."

"Huh?"

XXX

* * *

"Laaatiii!" Bianca calls out.

"Do you really need to yell so loud?" Melody asks, cleaning her ear.

"The city's so big, she could be anywhere," Bianca panics.

"Come on Bianca, you haven't lost her yet."

"She always makes me worry when she does this."

"It can't be all bad, you said that some of your more beautiful paintings was because Lati wandered off and found them. Besides, she always comes back, right?"

"Y-yeah."

The two of them notice a group of people heading towards the same direction.

"They sure seemed to be in a hurry," Melody comments.

"What if it's Lati?!" Bianca rushes ahead.

"You worry too much!" Melody chases after her.

The two of them follow the group towards a plaza, where a huge crowd was gathered.

"What's going on here?" Bianca stops momentarily to observe.

A storm of pink crystals twists upwards from the center of the crowd.

"What the heck?!" Melody asks out loud, holding her hat. She notices something glowing green in the middle of the twisting storm.

The glow explodes into a brilliant flash of green leaves, both the shiny pink crystals and glowing green leaves brighten up the sky.

"Good work Shaymin!" a blue haired female trainer in black and pink congratulates the small Pokemon in the sky.

"It really is pretty," the other female trainer in red and pink compliments.

"Heh, what'd you expect?" Shaymin boasts telepathically. "Your attack was really pretty too Diancie!"

"Hehe," Diancie blushed. "Thank you."

"Enough flirting Shaymin," his trainer called out.

"I-I wasn't flirting!" Shaymin started to turn red.

"Just use Energy Ball!"

"What's flirting?" Diancie asks her trainer.

"Ehehehe," the trainer nervously scratches her cheek. "I'll answer you later. Use Light Screen!"

"Okie dokie!"

Shaymin's Energy Ball crashes into Diancie's Light Screen.

"Now Stone Edge!"

Rocks shoot up from below Shaymin.

"Spin and dodge!" Shaymin's trainer called out. "Then close in with Air Slash!"

Shaymin avoids the flying rocks by twirling around. Ribbons of glowing air streams out of his wings, twirling around his body and slicing up any rocks headed his way. The flying Pokemon dives towards the rock Pokemon, hitting her Light Screen.

"It's close!" Diancie's trainer exclaims. "Use Diamond Storm!"

"Shaymin! Leaf Storm!"

The two mons unleash a flurry of rocks and leaves. The sky fills with shining color from their attacks. The Pokemon stood their ground for as long as they could, until they're both blown away.

"Shaymin!"

"Diancie!"

The trainers both call out to their Pokemon, both of which were lying on the ground with swirly eyes.

"I guess that's that," a third trainer in red and white that acted as their referee says. "The battle is a draw!"

The crowd roars out, excited and entertained by the match that they had just seen.

"That was really beautiful," Bianca comments in awe.

Melody taps on Bianca's shoulder to get her attention. Then points at a certain twin in the crowd.

"Lati!"

The battling trainers pick up their partner Pokemon.

"Are you okay Shaymin?" the blue haired trainer asks her grassy partner.

"I did my best Dawn," Shaymin replied while getting up on all fours.

"That's all I can ask for."

"You were great out there Diancie!" the other trainer exclaimed.

"Thank you, Serena."

"Not only did you guys have an awesome battle, you also put on a spectacular show!" the third trainer exclaimed happily.

"Yeah that was amazing!" a fourth trainer with a large white hat complimented.

"Thanks May, Lyra," Dawn smiles.

"I was wondering when Dawn would show up but I wasn't expecting you three to be here at the same time," Melody walks to the group of trainers as the crowd begins to thin out.

"Melody!" They greeted with smiles.

"Hey," Melody waves.

"Hello everyone," Bianca greets with Lati.

"Bianca, Lati, hey!" Dawn jumps up to them. "You're here!"

"It's been a while."

"It really has," Serena smiles. "We can hardly get together since the wedding, everyone's so busy."

"I know," May sighs. "I almost couldn't make it since I had to attend meetings for Hoenn's future Competitions. I was able to convince Drew to take over for me for a while."

"Same here, but for Sinnoh," Dawn adds. "I feel sorry for Zoey taking on my work."

"I'm just taking an extended break after the Johto Festival," Lyra mentions. "But I did dump everything on Khoury so that I could leave early."

"I had to sneak out of my work," Serena says.

Everyone looks at her questionably.

"W-what?" Serena gets defensive. "I-It was either me or Aria! And I know she'd sneak out first if I didn't!"

That just made everyone glare at her harder.

"Eeep," was all she could mutter.

"So where is Ash?" Diancie asks.

"Yeah! I want to see him too!" Shaymin hovers around excitedly. "Dawn said he's about to have some really important battle soon."

"That's right," Dawn remembers their reason for being there. "Where can we meet him?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Melody shrugs. "Gary and Ritchie might but good luck trying to get it out of them."

"Don't you have Ritchie wrapped around your finger?" Dawn leans in with a dark smirk on her face.

"There are some things that he'll put his foot down on," Melody comments. "This is one of them. Sorry."

"No need to worry," Dawn replies.

"We can bring you to where Mia is training though," Bianca tells them. "Melody reserved an entire hotel for us."

"With Ritchie's money I bet," Lyra jokes.

"Ayup," Melody answers flatly.

The girls chuckle.

"How is Mia?" Serena asks.

"Yeah that's…" Melody scratches the back of her head. "Going to be a complicated answer."

"She seemed so strong when I saw her battle Ritchie," Serena comments.

"Some things have happened between then and now," Melody tells her. "I'll tell you on the way to the hotel."

"Um Serena?" Diancie speaks to her partner. "What's flirting?"

XXX

* * *

"Uh… ugnh" Mia slowly opens her eyes. The blur in her vision gradually fades away and she sees the roof of her hotel room.

"How are you feeling Mary?" she hears her uncle ask.

"Uncle Lucian?" Mia turns her head to see him sitting down at the desk reading a book. She could feel Ashana beside her getting up.

"You've been sleeping for a few hours now, it's nearly evening."

Mia sits up. "Wow, I've been out that long?" Ashana cuddles up to Mia, Mia pets her gently. "How's Absol?"

"Gary took care of her, she'll be fine."

"That great," Mia smiles.

"I know you just woke up but you should take it easy for the rest of the day, it's a little late to start training again. It'd probably be a good idea to take the day off tomorrow as well, you can't train every day you know."

"Yeah, I think I will."

"I'll leave you be for now, I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"Wait, Uncle."

"Yes?"

"Can you call Shauntal over? I want to tell her about Absol."

"Okay."

Lucian leaves the room as Mia pets Ashana softly. The Pokemon whimpers lightly while rubbing her head on Mia's chest.

"I'm okay Sis, I won't be hesitant anymore." Mia pulls back her right sleeve, she holds the scar and closes her eyes. Her scar begins to glow again. _Father, I will reach you!_

XXX

* * *

"Cut!" Ash cries out to Ash-Greninja.

"Thunder Punch!" Paul orders Electivire.

The two Pokemon exchange blows, with Electivire getting overwhelmed by Geninja's speed and evasiveness. Greninja forces an opening in Electivire's defenses and knocks it back with a powerful blow.

"Water Shuriken!" Ash calls out to Ash-Greninja.

Ash-Greninja creates a massive glowing Water Shuriken above its head.

"Get up!" Paul orders his Electivire.

Electivire gets on its feet as Ash-Greninja throws the massive Water Shuriken. It crashes into Electivire.

"That's it!" Ash looks on, positive of his victory. Then he notices a green barrier through the smoke, Electivire had used Protect. His eyes widened as he also notices a surge of electricity flowing through Electivire.

"Thunder!" Paul calls out.

Electivire unleashes a powerful bolt of energy at his exhausted opponent.

"Aaargh!" Ash feels the attack through his bond with Greninja. Both of them fall to the ground, Greninja reverts to its original form.

"Paul wins by knockout!" Anabel calls the match, then rushes over to Ash.

Paul calls back his Pokemon, then watches as Anabel looks after Ash. "Like father like daughter." He walks away. "They better not let their troubles get in the way of their battle, otherwise this trip would've been a waste of time."

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Yeah that mystery trainer wasn't really meant to be a mystery. XD Anyways, according to my plans... the next few chapters are going to be nothing more than character/cameo introductions/interactions, with some of Mia's team's backstories sprinkled throughout.


	6. Arrival of A Rival

Mia and Ashana came down the stairs towards the lobby, she makes her way to the exit when she sees Lucian chatting with several young women.

"Uncle?" Mia gives him a questioning look.

"Mary, you're up." Lucian greets her with a smile, but then notices the look in her eyes. "Now now, it's not what you think."

"Wow," Dawn smiles. "Looking at her in person, it's much easier to the resemblances."

"I know," May walks over to Mia. "She takes a lot more from Anabel than Ash."

"You know them?" Mia asks.

"We're old friends of your parents," Dawn answers. "I'm Dawn, this is May, she's Lyra and that is Serena."

"Oh!" Mia recognizes the names. "You were father's friends in different regions." Then she looks at Lyra. "I think?"

"Oh, I didn't travel with him for very long," Lyra tells her. "But I'm still a friend."

"That's right," Serena answers. "We're close friends of your father."

"How close were you?" Mia asks.

Lucian could be heard choking on his drink as the girls suddenly got shy.

"W-well," Dawn scratches her cheek.

"Not as close as me," Melody walks in on the conversation. "I think I'm closer than any of you."

"Wha-?" May reels back. "How?"

"Don't you remember how I greeted him?" Melody gave a flirtatious look while putting her fingers to her lips.

"Th-th-that doesn't count!" Serena yelled, pointing angrily. "You said that was just a greeting, a greeting! It's more meaningful as a goodbye!"

"Oh! I should've done that just to see Dawn's reaction," Lyra comments.

"Wha-?!" Dawn jumped slightly.

"Like Lati did with Misty?" Melody asks.

"W-who? W-when?" Serena's at a loss for words.

"Th-that doesn't really matter does it?" May asks out loud.

"I'd say it does," Melody smirks. "Have you read Shauntal's books? They go into quite the detail about you guys and your feelings."

"Wha-wha-WHAAAT?!" the three girls yell out.

"Ooh, that set them off." Mia jokes to Lucian as the girls argue with each other.

"You're a real piece of work," Lucian comments. "What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to the city," Mia answers. "I'm going to see which of my Pokemon want to come with me."

"I see, have fun."

"Looks like all the fun is here," Mia nudges her head towards the noisy group behind her.

"That's your fault. Gary should be letting out your Pokemon now, they'll be waiting."

"Okay, see you."

Shauntal yawns as she walks into the chaos, "Oh hey, morning everyone!"

Dawn, May and Serena all give her a menacing glare. Melody just snickers and Lyra waves with a smile.

"Iiiis there something on my face?"

XXX

* * *

Mia and Ashana run out to the field where her Pokemon were waiting with Gary. "Hey!" Mia waves to them.

The Pokemon all greeted her back with their various cries.

"Good morning," Gary greets. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Mia answers. She runs up to them and leans over to talk, "I'm going to take a break in the city today, does anyone want to come?"

Some Pokemon were excited, some weren't. Particularly Arcanine whom just walked away silently.

"Alright, alright come down," Mia giggles.

"What's up with him?" Gary asks about Arcanine.

"He has a bad history with cities," Mia answers as some of her Pokemon crowd around her. "Easy easy, I can only take five. Let's see… alright!" Mia calls over five of her Pokemon; Mawile, Beautifly, Ledian, Togekiss and the shiny Lilligant, and put them into their Pokeballs. "Hey Arcanine! Take care of the rest alright?"

Arcanine barked back in acknowledgement. Mia smiles and makes her way.

XXX

* * *

"I'm lost," Mia talks to herself, annoyed. "This place is much bigger than I thought. Hey Sis, think you can find some place to eat? We've been wondering around for so long I almost forgot about lunch."

"Jol!" Jolteon trots off.

Mia finds a nice grassy place with a bench to sit back then closes her eyes momentarily. Then she starts seeing what Ashana sees. _That place looks nice. But there's a no Pokemon sign._ _What about over there?_

Jolteon shakes her head.

 _You're smelling something you don't like, huh? Well, let's keep looking._

Jolteon trots through the streets for a couple more minutes. She finds her way into a large park.

 _You know, we can probably just have a picnic here. Oh but the others won't be here to enjoy it with us._

They hear an explosion.

 _What was that? Sis, let's check it out._

Ashana runs over to where she heard the explosion. She finds two Lucarios with their trainers battling in the park. One of the trainers was a barefoot young woman with a big bandage on her nose, she matches the movements of her Lucario as they battle. The other trainer is a girl in roller skates wearing a Mega stone on her glove.

 _It's Maylene, I don't know who she's fighting but she seems strong. I want to watch but I'm getting hungry. Let's keep going Sis._

Ashana walks away from the battle. She follows her nose to a simple donut van.

 _Donuts? Not quite the lunch I was looking for but it'll do._

Mia breaks the link and heads for the park where Ashana was waiting. She passes by the two battling trainers, Maylene and her Lucario was putting up quite a battle against the roller blade girl and her Mega Lucario. She watched for a few seconds then her stomach grumbled, she continued her way to the donut van.

"The Tart Cart? Well, your nose has never failed us before," Mia walks up and looks at the menu. "Hmm…"

"Mia? Is that you?!" A young girl's excited voice catches her ear.

Mia turns around to see another girl her age, messy pink red hair, pink hoodie, green short shorts, blue boots and a small guitar on her back.

"Sonica?"

"It is you!" Sonica runs up to give Mia a quick hug. "I saw your battle with the Kanto Champion. You were amazing!"

"Thanks," Mia replies. "What are you doing here? Weren't you going to focus on your singing after winning the Unova Conference?"

"I am," Sonica answers. "My first album's been selling really well back in Unova. Now I have a tour scheduled in a couple months, so I'm taking it easy until then."

"That's great," Mia smiles. "But why Sinnoh? Wouldn't it have been better to stay in Unova?"

"I came here since I heard about the World Championship battle. I'm hoping to find some new inspiration for some new songs. Besides, I may be a singer now, but I'm still a trainer."

"Haha, is Meloetta still with you?"

As if on cue, Meloetta appears on Sonica's shoulder.

"Hello," Mia greets it and is greeted back. "I thought you going to give her back to her village?"

"I was, but they gave us their blessing to stay together a little longer."

"Jol…" Ashana nudges Mia's leg.

"Oh right," Mia remembers why she was there. "The donuts."

Mia and Sonica each ordered the large Pokemon Party Box. Both of them call out their Pokemon to eat with them. Mia's Jolteon, Mawile, Beautifly, Ledian, Togekiss and Lilligant ate alongside Meloetta, Sonica's Bisharp, Zebstrika, Primarina, Ribombee, Sylveon and Lurantis.

"Hi Lilligant!" Sonica greets the grass Pokemon.

Lilligant greets her back. Meloetta walks over and they greet each other happily.

"So Mia, aren't you supposed to be training?"

"I'm taking it easy today," Mia answers. "I was training the past couple days. My uncle suggested that I take a break today."

"I guess we have your uncle to thank for this coincidence," Sonica smiles. "I can't believe that you managed to beat a Champion though. Right after I beat you in the Unova tournament too."

"Soonicaa!" A woman's voice calls out.

"Oh, shoot!" Sonica stood up slamming the table. "I completely forgot! Skyla! Elesa! Over here!"

"I can't believe you forgot about us," Skyla pouts as her stomach rumbles.

"Mia?" Elesa notices who Sonica was sitting with. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Mia? Hey!" Skyla greeted.

"Hey, are you three are travelling together?"

"Yup," Sonica answers. "Elesa's actually my manager."

"Eh? How did that happen?"

"I went to her for some advice at first, one thing lead to another and she said that she'd be my manager temporarily until I can settle into the music industry."

"It's not too different from modelling or acting," Elesa explains. "Until she handle it on her own I'll help her out. Luckily we were able to get this break at the same time as your challenge. I'm sure she'll be able to get more inspiration for new songs here."

"I'll be counting on you," Sonica smirks and points at Mia.

"I'll… do my best?" Mia responds, confused.

"You said you were just relaxing today?" Sonica asks. "We're sightseeing too, want to come with?"

"Sure!" Mia nods happily. "Afterwards I can take you to where I'm staying. It's a big hotel with a large lake nearby. You can come and stay there too!"

"That sounds… expensive, are you sure it won't be a bother?"

"It's fine, it's on Champion Ritchie, whether he likes it or not." Mia tries her best to hold back a laugh.

"Hm?" Sonica looks at her confused.

"What are we waiting for?" Mia tosses the empty boxes and both of them call back their Pokemon. Then start walking away.

"Hey!" Skyla called out, carrying a box of donuts. "Wait for us!"

"You and your appetite," Elesa says under her breath.

XXX

* * *

"Wow!" Sonica looked out the bus window at the large hotel. "It's huge."

"The field and the lake behind the building are amazing too," Mia tells her. "My Pokemon are back there, I'll introduce you to everybody."

They hear loud explosions coming from behind the building, and large dust clouds fly up. The bus driver stopped instinctively.

"What was that?!" Elesa asked.

"Open the door!" Mia calls out, she runs off followed by Ashana. She stops to look at the sky, there are 3 small figures flying away. "Oh, it's just them."

"Who?" Sonica walked up behind her.

"It's nothing," Mia answers. "Everything should be okay now." Mia calls out her Togekiss. "I'm going ahead to check on my Pokemon."

"We'll come with you," Skyla calls out several Flying Pokemon.

XXX

* * *

"Hey!" Mia calls from above to where her Pokemon were gathered.

Gary, Lucian, Shauntal, Lyra, May, Dawn, Serena, Melody and Bianca were there as well. There were several craters on the ground as well as wreckage from a giant robot.

"Mia! Hey!" Gary greeted as the girl jumps down to them.

"What happened here?" Mia asks as Sonica, Elesa and Skyla drops behind her.

"It was Team Comet," Gary answers. "They tried to get your Pokemon again. But your Arcanine and Skarmory were able to escape the trap and fight back."

"They were really something," Dawn mentions. "We really wanted to jump in and help but Lucian stopped us."

"I just wanted to see what your Pokemon were capable of before stepping in," Lucian explains. "Needless to say, they exceed my expectations."

"Even against a robot like that," Shauntal starts. "Arcanine and Skarmory just kept fighting until they finally found a weakness."

"Arcanine and Skarmory... worked together?" Mia asks.

"Yes, why?" May wonders. "They don't like each other?"

"No, it's not that. They just tend to take things on by themselves. They can be really aggressive when you push them so I'm just surprised at hearing that they managed to work together even for a little while."

"You need to tell me how you caught them," Shauntal pries. "I'm sure they'd be interesting stories."

"Umm…" Mia looks at Arcanine. "Arcanine! Skarmory!"

The two Pokemon come over as Mia walks out to meet them.

"I heard what you two did," Mia cuddles both of them. "Thank you. You did great."

The two of them barked and cried.

"Arcanine," Mia looks at the fire dog seriously. "They want to know how we met. I know it's something that you don't like to think about so I'm asking if it's alright to tell them."

After a moment of silence, Arcanine nodded.

"Skar skar!" The bird cries out.

"Oh, you're okay with me telling them how we met?"

"Skar!" the bird nodded.

"Shauntal," Elesa called to the author. "Nice to see you, what are you doing here?"

"Oh Elesa, I'm writing another story," Shauntal answers. "This one is on Mia. But why are you two here?"

"Vacation," Elesa answers.

"So these are your Pokemon," Sonica looked around at the large group of Pokemon around her. "I didn't know you had so much."

"I've been travelling for a long time," Mia tells her. "Everyone here is a close friend."

"Melo? Melo!" Meloetta made herself visible in front of Dawn.

"Meloetta?" Dawn questions. "It IS you! But why are you here?"

"She's with Sonica," Skyla explains. "Apparently there's a big story behind it, I'm sure you can ask her later."

"She's pretty," Shaymin says aloud.

"Hmph," Diancie crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks.

An Empoleon pops out of one of Dawn's pokeballs.

"Empoleon!" The Empoleon introduces himself to Meloetta, then bows to her.

"Melo?" Meloetta looks at the penguin confused.

While Empoleon is still bowing, Shaymin flies in and lands on top of its back.

"Hi, I'm Shaymin, it's very nice to meet yoOU-whoa!"

Empoleon stood up shaking Shaymin off.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Shaymin angrily yells at Empoleon.

"Empo! Leon!" Empoleon and Shaymin argue.

"Cut it out you two!" Dawn tells them.

"Ha!" Diancie whacks Shaymin in the back of the head, knocking him out. She pulls on his ear. "We're going to have a talk."

May, Serena, Lyra and Dawn could only giggle at the sight.

"Empo, leo-on?" Empoleon turns around to talk to Meloetta again but she disappeared.

"Looks she's gone Empoleon," Dawn tells him. "Sorry…" Dawn pulls out her pokeball and recalls the dejected mon.

"Sonica was it?" Melody, behind her shades walks up to observe the pink clad girl. "As in Sonica Strumm?"

"Yep, that's me," Sonica answered wholeheartedly. "Wow, am I getting famous in other regions now too?"

"Not necessarily," Melody answers. "I've heard of a rising star in Unova and was really curious as to what kind of person she was. I didn't know that you'd be a firend of Mia's." Melody takes off her glasses to reveal her face. "Hi, I'm Melody."

"M-Me-Me-Me-... Melody?!" Sonica nearly jumped at the revelation. "I don't believe it. Whatareyoudoinghere? Isthereaconcert? CanIhaveyourautograph? Canyougivemeadviceforwritingmysongs? What'syourfavoriteinstrument? Doyouhaveabo-"

"Sonica!" Elesa yells her name.

Sonica stops talking and starts taking deep breaths.

"So sorry," Skyla apologizes. "She's always talking about how you inspired her to be a singer, you're her idol."

"I figured," Melody smiles.

"She used to be a trainer in Unova," Skyla continues. "She actually used the Unova Conference to jump start her singing career, even beating Mia in the tournament."

"Using the regional tournament for publicity," Melody thinks to herself. "That's actually a good idea. But if you battled Mia, you must be a rival."

"A rival?" Sonica thought about that word for a moment. "Hey Mia," Sonica starts. "Did you have any other rivals in the regions you traveled?"

"Rivals?"

"You know, people you keep meeting around that you can't wait to battle seriously. Like me!"

Mia thinks for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I want to hear all about them."

"Okay, but why?"

"Cause you're my greatest rival! It's only fair that I'm yours!"

"You sure are competitive. Wait, I'm your _only_ rival!"

"Why don't we all hear it at dinner," Lucian suggested. "There's going to be enough stories for everyone."

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** So I decided to bring in one of the rivals I thought up in the original planning a few chapters back. It'd be really strange for Ash's daughter to only be hanging out with Ash's friends instead of her own. See if you can figure out where I stol- erhem, got the inspiration from.


	7. Stories

"Okay," Sonica sits down with her plate of food. "So where do we start?"

"I want to hear how you have Meloetta travelling with you," Dawn speaks up.

"Alright," Sonica took a deep breath. "I'll try to keep it short. Let's see… while travelling through Unova, I got lost."

A few people uttered a flat "What?"

"Apparently I was following the map upside down."

"Your map's digital," Mia points out. "How-?"

"I forgot to charge it!" Sonica defends herself. "Luckily I had a paper map on me."

"Doesn't sound like it did you much good."

"Well, no, it didn't. But back to the story!" Sonica clears her throat. "Somehow I found myself in Meloetta's village. They were cautious but friendly, I told them I was lost and they let me stay the night. Before I went to sleep I was working on one of my songs. Meloetta heard me and took the sheet I was working on while I was asleep. I panicked the next morning when I found out that my song had been taken. I found out that it was Meloetta that took my song and had actually made it better!

The village leader told me that Meloetta was in their village for centuries as a guardian. But a few years ago there was an incident where she was taken away and rescued by kind people. She returned happily but the memories of the kind people were always in her head. After a while she started yearning to leave the village again, but her duties as a guardian keeps her there. She doesn't show it, but some of the villagers know that she's been wishing to go out again.

This is the most fun Meloetta's had in a long time, so for her sake the village council has agreed to let Meloetta travel with me only if I've proven myself strong enough to protect her. Basically I had to battle the strongest trainer in the village."

"Was he strong?" Mia asks.

"Very strong," Sonica answers. "It was a full battle, and before he could call out his last Pokemon, Meloetta herself stepped in to battle me! The leader thinks that Meloetta knows why we're battling but she's also conflicted between her duties and her desires. Meloetta wanted me to show her my spirit."

"I know how strong Meloetta is," Mia comments. "It still amazes me that you managed to beat it."

"Actually, I didn't," Sonica replies. "I put up a really good fight though, and the villagers just saw how happy and joyful Meloetta was during the battle, and when we sang our song together afterwards. The chief asked me what I wanted to do, which at the time was to be a strong trainer and to reveal myself to the world through the Unova Conference, then go into singing. I guess they accepted that, but they had me swear to protect Meloetta and not to use her publicly. I told them I can bring Meloetta back after the tournament, and I did. We partied hard that night, dancing, playing, singing. When the village heard our songs and saw our dances, they couldn't believe their eyes and ears, Meloetta has never sung so beautifully or danced so happily before. They decided that travelling the world some more would be good for Meloetta, and even Meloetta seemed to really want it as well. They said that she can stay with me for a while longer. And now we're here."

"I'd like to ask for more details later," Shauntal speaks up. "Sounds like something worth writing."

"Sure, I can go deeper, but right now it's all about Mia, right?" Sonica smiles in Mia's direction.

"So it's my turn," Mia took a breath. "I think I'll start with Skarmory, it's much easier to tell. I was in Johto, travelling through a cliff side when I saw a bunch of Butterfree in a panic. There was a Skarmory looking for a meal, I jumped in with Sis to stop it. After a few attacks we scared it off. I helped the Butterfrees fix their nest. Oh yeah, there was this really cute pink one and another with a scarf around it."

"A scarf?" Lucian asks.

"Yeah, I think it might've been a released Pokemon. The Skarmory attacked again, and it was really mad at us. We fought back with the scarfed Butterfree. After a while I realized that the Skarmory won't stop coming no matter how many times we beat it, so I decided to catch it. It kept breaking out of my Pokeballs though, even with Sis hitting it with her powerful electric attacks. It took a lot of Butterfrees using Sleep Powder to bring it down."

"Sounds like one messy battle," Sonica comments.

"It was," Mia answers. "But the story doesn't stop there. Skarmory really didn't like being caught. Whenever I call it out it'd peck me in the head out of spite. Ever been pecked by a metal beak? It hurts!"

"Can't be as bad as a Poison Jab," Dawn mutters.

"Whenever I try to use it for battle, it just won't listen to me, it'd just sleep on the battlefield. I didn't know what to do with it for a while."

"I know from experience how difficult some Pokemon can be," Dawn tells her. "But it looks like you managed to make friends with it in the end. Mind telling us how?"

"Alright…"

XXX

* * *

 _Mia stands with in the path of several rampaging Tyranitar with many other trainers and an Officer Jenny._

" _Forcing those poor Pokemon to evolve like that," one of them mentions. "How horrible."_

" _The sudden unnatural evolution has caused them to go berserk," Officer Jenny informs._

" _At least we destroyed the machine," another trainer tells everyone. "Now we just need to stop these Pokemon from getting into town!"_

XXX

* * *

" _Return!" Mia calls back a couple of her knocked out Pokemon. "I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."_

 _Ashana stands beside her, panting from fighting so hard._

 _Mia looks on the battlefield, more like a devastated warzone with attacks flying back and forth. Several Tyranitar were already knocked out, or calmed down enough to quietly leave. But others were still creating havoc. An Earthquake shakes the land that she stood on, cracking it two. She jumped to avoid falling in the crack and turned to the Pokemon that caused the earthquake. Mia pulls out the Pokeball containing Skarmory. "I'm counting on you!"_

 _Skarmory comes out of the pokeball screeching. It sees the Tyranitar and dives right in._

" _Skarmory no! Don't get close to them!"_

 _Skarmory's Brave Bird crashes into Tyranitar's Thrash._

" _Sis!"_

" _Jol!" Ashana dashes forward and fires a Thunder Bolt at the Tyranitar._

" _Skarmory! Keep back and use Air Slash!"_

 _Skarmory dives down towards the rock monster, readying its Steel Wing._

" _Skarmory no don't!"_

 _The Tyranitar catches Steelix, then uses Crunch on the bird's neck._

" _Skarmory!"_

 _Jolteon hits the rock monster with a Thunderbolt. It tosses the metal bird up a bit then blasts it with Hyper Beam, then it charges at the small yellow mon._

 _Mia runs over to where Skarmory lay and inspects the damage. "This is bad." She pulls out her Pokeball to call it back. An intense shaking makes her drop the ball and she rushes to pick it up. As she chases it, a crack appears underneath Skarmory._

" _Jooool!" Jolteon yells as Mia._

 _Mia turns around, she sees Skarmory sliding down the crack in the ground._

" _No!" Mia dives towards her Pokemon, just barely grabbing its legs. "Uuugh!" Mia lays on her stomach, holding onto Skarmory as hard as she could._

 _Skarmory watches Mia hold on as hard as she could amidst the explosions and attacks of the battles going around her. A Hyper Beam just barely misses behind her. A Stone Edge boulder crashes nearby her. But that just made her grip tighter. Skarmory sees the desperation in Mia's eyes, her will to save him._

 _A Tyranitar walks up to where Mia lay. It roars out behind her and raised a foot. Ashana comes in Double Kick-ing it in the face and keeps it busy. But another Tyranitar stands on the other side of the crack, its mouth glows with energy._

 _Skarmory flaps its wings, pulling Mia down with it into the crevice just as the Tyranitar fires a Hyper Beam. Skarmory flies out of the chasm with Mia on his back._

" _Skarmory!" Mia happily calls out to it and give it a quick hug, then closes her eyes. "Let's do this. Together."_

XXX

* * *

"After that, we managed to stop the Tyranitars from reaching the city. Skarmory battled really hard against them and started listening to me from then on."

"That's great to hear," Dawn breathes a sigh of relief.

"That's amazing," Shauntal quickly writes down what she could from Mia's story. "I have so many questions I'm dying to ask. But I know I can't take up too much of your time."

"Same here," May agreed. "Sounds like you have just as many crazy adventures as your father."

"Her father?" Sonica asks.

"Oh, you haven't told her?" Lyra asks Mia.

"N-no," Mia answers. "I guess I should."

"Tell me what?"

"My father, is Ash. The World Champion Master."

A moment of silence.

"You're joking, right? Tell me, you're joking."

Another moment of silence.

Sonica jumped up. "NO FREAKING WAY!" She grabs Mia's shoulders and starts shaking her violently. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"This- is- ex- actly- why!" Mia tries to speak through the shaking.

"I think you better stop," Melody suggests.

"Huh?" Sonica suddenly realizes what she's doing. "Ah! I'm so sorry!"

Mia coughs for a bit and clears her throat. "If everyone knew that I was Ash's daughter, well, I don't think that I would've been able to be myself. I'd just be in my father's shadow. I didn't want that."

"I see…" Sonica says. "I guess it must be hard to have somebody really famous as a parent."

"Eh, it's not so bad," Gary shrugs.

Ritchie nudges him. "Gary…"

"I don't mind," Mia tells her. "I just wanted to be myself, not just his daughter."

The room fell silent again.

"That wasn't too cheesy, was it?"

The room mumbled around, saying that it wasn't and the like.

"Thanks?" Mia raised an eyebrow. "I think?"

"Do you want to take a break before you continue with your other story?" Lucian suggests.

XXX

* * *

"Here you go Meloetta," Sonica gives Meloetta a plate of food. "Enjoy!"

"Melo!" Meloetta thanked her partner.

While eating, Shaymin gently nudges his food bowl closer. "So Meloetta, do you like the food?"

"Meelo!" Meloetta nods happily.

"Is it that good? Can I have some?"

"Ha!" Diancie whacks Shaymin on the head, knocking him out. She grabs his ear and drags him off. "Finish your own food first before asking for more."

XXX

* * *

"Got my desert!" Sonica returns to her seat with a bowl of ice cream. "Okay, ready!"

"That's a lot of ice cream," Mia comments.

"I have a sugar tooth."

Mia just looks at her.

"So? Aren't you going to tell us about your Arcanine?"

"Okay," Mia took a deep breath. "It started in a town where Sis and I found out that several Growlithe were causing trouble for the past couple days. The locals keep chasing them away but they just keep coming back. Eventually Officer Jenny had gathered some locals to catch them. I joined in because one of the Growlithe took my lunch."

XXX

* * *

" _Just one more," Officer Jenny states as a Growlithe was locked up in an outdoor cage with the others._

 _The last Growlithe showed up to attack the cage that was holding all the caught Growlithe. It used a Flamethrower on the lock to try and break it open._

" _Sis!" Mia calls to Ashana._

 _Ashana fires a Thunderbolt to get the Growlithe to stop attacking. The captured Growlithe barked out loud to the free Growlithe, whom growled at Ashana heavily._

" _That's the one that took my lunch!" Mia mentions._

 _Several locals ran up to it trying to catch it in their nets. But the Growlithe managed to avoid them all and run away._

" _He's getting away!" Officer Jenny cries out._

" _Sis! After it!"_

" _Jol!"_

 _As Ashana and the locals chased after the fire dog, Mia sat down on the ground and closed her eyes._

Don't let it get away, _Mia instructs_. But don't get too close either. We should see where it stops to rest.

 _Jolteon reduced its speed and pretended to lose it after a few turns. Then followed it to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. Mia got up and went to where Ashana was waiting._

" _Is it still there?" Mia asks._

 _Ashana nodded. Mia walks closer to the building as quietly as she could. She started to hear the Growlithe's barking, it was clearly on the other side of the door she walked up to. Mia took a deep breath then opened the door._

 _The Growlithe was barking at an Arcanine that was lying on the other end of the room. Laying all around it was food that all the Growlithe had taken. The Arcanine was breathing very heavily, very slowly._

" _I don't believe it…"_

 _The Arcanine noticed Mia and Ashana, and soon the Growlithe did too. The Growlithe Roar'd at the two of them, Ashana shook a little, but Mia took a step closer, slowly. Growlithe growled with a very angry look in its eyes. It shot a flamethrower at Mia's feet, the girl shielded her face and waited for the flames to die down before stepping forward again. The Growlithe fired another stream of flame, next to her head, then burning her shoulder, then at her chest knocking her back to the wall._

" _You hear that?" a nearby local shouted. "Sounded like it came from over there!"_

 _Mia reaches for the door to close it as Ashana runs out to meet with the group of people._

" _You're the Jolteon that belongs to one of the trainers! Did you find the Growlithe?"_

 _Ashana runs off, leading the crowd away._

 _Mia got up slowly, with pain in her chest, shoulder and back. The Growlithe growled again, but Arcanine's paw stroked its head slowly. Growlithe turned around to face Arcanine, who smiled at it while stroking its head. After a few more strokes the Arcanine's paw dropped, and its eyes slowly closed, while still smiling at the little pup._

 _Growlithe whined slowly, then barked, getting louder and louder. Tears formed in its eyes as it tried shaking the Arcanine awake, all the while barking and whining._

 _Mia stepped up behind him, "I'm… sorry."_

 _The Growlithe looked back at her angrily, he jumped up to bite her shoulder._

 _Mia screamed out in pain as she fell backwards onto the floor. Growlithe hung onto her shoulder with his fangs._

 _After a moment of enduring the pain, Mia stroked Growlithe's back gently. "There, there."_

 _The Growlithe's tears flowed out of his eyes while he was still biting her shoulder. It slowly let go of her and cuddled up on her chest._

" _I heard screaming!" Officer Jenny's voice from outside filled the room. "What's happening here?" She busts the door open to see Mia on the ground stroking a crying Growlithe._

XXX

* * *

 _Mia, Officer Jenny, all the Growlithe and several townspeople stood paying their respects in front of a grave._

" _What's going to happen to the Growlithe?" Mia asks._

" _For now I think it's best to let them recover," Officer Jenny answers. "After that, several townspeople have offered to take care of some of them and I'd like it if some of them would help us in the force."_

" _That's good to hear, thank you."_

" _It's the least I could do."_

 _Mia and Ashana silently walk away from the group of people. One of the Growlithe turned to see her go._

 _At the edge of town, Mia and Ashana hear something barking at them. They turned around to see Growlithe coming after them._

" _Growlithe!" Mia kneels down and hugs the little dog. "Why are you here?"_

 _The Pokemon whined and tapped Mia's shoulder, there were bandages under her clothes._

" _It's okay, I'm alright." Mia smiles at him._

 _The dog barked once then nudges his head onto hers._

" _You want to come along with me?"_

 _Growlithe barked happily. Mia takes out a Pokeball and taps him with it. The ball indicates a successful capture._

XXX

* * *

"And that's how I met my Arcanine," Mia concludes. "Along the way I found a Fire Stone that I used to evolve it. It didn't want to at first, probably because of his memories, but eventually it decided to in order better protect me and all my other Pokemon."

The room was quiet, the only noise anyone could hear was Shauntal writing down notes.

"That was…" Lyra tries to break the silence, but couldn't find the rest of her words. "I don't know what to say."

"It doesn't sound like something I can do justice with in words," Shauntal mentions. "I knew that I'd get some interesting stories about your adventures, I wasn't expecting something like this though."

"Arcanine used to be very touchy about his past," Mia mentions. "While it is the memory of how I met Arcanine, it's one that I'm not sure I should be sharing."

"Behind every capture is a story," Lucian speaks up. "Whether it may be an accident or something more serious. What's import is to keep those memories as those are the first links between a trainer and a Pokemon. Each link is a chapter in a trainer's story, and as you all know, stories can only truly be appreciated in full. While we know that you are close to your Pokemon, knowing how you met your Pokemon makes us appreciate and acknowledge your ties to them even more."

Everyone stares at him for a moment.

"Geez Uncle, you sure know to read between the lines." Mia snarks. "Is that all everyone wanted to know today?"

"I think we're good for today," Dawn answers. "It is getting late, look, Shaymin's in his Land Forme."

Diancie pets the Land Forme, giggling. "Hey Meloetta, come here and feel him, he's really soft."

"Diancie," Shaymin blushes.

Meloetta hovers over and starts stroking the blushing bush Pokemon.

"It's feels nice, right?" Diancie giggles.

"Melo!" Meloetta agrees happily.

"This is so embarrassing," Shaymin's face flushes red. "Whoa!" Diancie rolls him over on his back. "What are you- hahahaha- doing- hahahaha!"

Diancie tickles his underbelly, all while laughing herself, Meloetta giggles at the sight.

"Hahaha- stop! Hahaha- stop please!"

Diancie stops her tickling and helps Shaymin back on his feet. Shaymin buried his face in his hands. Meloetta petted his head gently and he sees her smiling at him.

XXX

* * *

"Hey Sonica," Melody catches the young singer in the hallway.

"Melody! Yes?" Sonica cheerfully replies.

"You wanted to make for yourself with your singing right? Then I've got a proposition for you."

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** That's half of Mia's team's backstories explained, just two left and the whole team will be set. Her team anyway, still gotta work on Ash's, especially their movesets. I've been juggling the idea of keeping most of the moves they used in the anime or using different moves entirely, I guess the former for fully evolved or single stage Pokemon and the latter for Pokemon that can still evolve. (I mean, for example, there's no way I'd be using Totodile as it is)


	8. More Stories

Ashana leads Lati (still in her Bianca guise), Sky Forme Shaymin, Diancie and Meloetta out onto the field where Mia's Pokemon were playing about. Meloetta flies over to where Lilligant was dancing by herself. Shaymin quickly followed.

"Hey ladies," Shaymin greets.

"Ha!" Diancie tries to hit him but the grass mon dodged the attack.

"Missed!" Shaymin taunted. "Huh?" Looking up, a bunch of small crystals gathered and formed a single large crystal that dropped on him. Diancie then drags him away by the ear. "Diancie whyyyyy?"

As Diancie pulls Shaymin, both of them fall into a pit. A little snickering can be heard nearby.

Lati walks around the field, watching over Mia's Pokemon. A chunk of mud hits her on the face. After being stunned for a second, she quickly wipes her face while hearing snickering nearby.

Arcanine runs up next to her and barks out onto the field then waits for a reply. After a moment of silence, Arcanine launches a Flamethrower out onto the field. An Aqua Tail blocks the flames, creating steam clouds. Arcanine starts sniffing the ground to find out where the one that threw the mud went.

Shaymin and Diancie manage to get themselves out of the pit trap with help from Meloetta, Lilligant and Jolteon.

"Jolti?" Ashana asks.

"We're fine," Shaymin replies. "No need to worry."

"Jol Jolteon," Ashana says, bowing.

"You don't have to apologize," Diancie replies. "One of Mia's Pokemon did this?"

Arcanine walks around the small beach by the lake past Milotic's ice slide where several smaller Pokemon were enjoying themselves and looks around, he sees a sand coffin with a sand tombstone at one end. Arcanine walks up to it to look inside, it was Dewgong sleeping while buried up to his neck in flowers.

In another part of the field, several Pokemon were participating in a self-managed round robin tournament. Aggron and Rhyperior were currently battling, showcasing their speed and power. They clashed against each other, pushing each other on opposite ends of the field. The two of them ready for a final attack. Both of them blitzed forward, an Aqua Tail trips Rhyperior midway through. The Rock Pokemon flips over, surprising Aggron. Rhyperior's body crashes into Aggron and they both go flying into the Pokemon waiting their turns. Snickering can be heard as the Pokemon lie there.

Arcanine runs over to see if everyone is alright. Aggron answers that they're fine. Arcanine starts sniffing the ground again and follows the scent.

In a tree, Skarmory, Braviary, Honchkrow, Altaria, Togekiss were resting. Honchkrow is whacked in the back of the head, it starts yelling at Braviary. Braviary yells back for a bit and they both calm down. Then Braviary is hit in the back of the head, it starts yelling at Honchkrow. Altaria and Togekiss manage to stop the two of them and the birds make space between themselves. After a moment, both Honchkrow and Braviary at hit in the back of the head. The two birds then start fighting it out against each other while something snickers behind them.

Arcanine rushes over and gets them to stop fighting. He Flamethrower's the area behind where they were resting, Drapion falls off of the tree. Arcanine barks loudly at it, but Drapion runs away. Arcanine gives chase.

Drapion rushes across the field with Arcanine right behind him. Jolteon, Lilligant, Shaymin, Diancie and Meloetta watch the chase. Lati walks in front of Drapion's path. Her eyes glow brightly but Drapion is unaffected. It picked up another mud ball and hits her in the face.

"Jol! Jolteon!" Ashana tells her.

"A Poison/Dark type?" Shaymin asks.

"It looks like it should be a Bug/Poison," Diancie comments.

"What was she trying to do anyway?" Shaymin asks.

"Lil," Lilligant answers. "Lilli."

"A Psychic attack?" Shaymin repeats. "She's not a Pokemon… Isn't she?"

Lati's eyes glow again, blowing the mud off of her face. The ground around her trembles, several large chunks of ground is lifted upwards. A surprised Drapion stopped in its tracks. Lati throws the chunks of ground, burying Drapion in mounds of dirt. Arcanine walks up to Drapion's head and fires a quick flamethrower at its face.

"Serves him right," Diancie says out loud. "How did Mia catch such a troublesome Pokemon anyway?" She asks Ashana.

XXX

* * *

" _There's a lot of Pokemon here," Mia looks at the Great Marsh through binoculars. "I can't decide which one to catch."_

" _Skor!"_

" _Ah!"_

 _A Skorupi jumped in front of the binoculars, causing Mia to fall back. The Skorupi giggles then disappears into the marsh._

" _What was that?" Mia wonders before picking herself up. "Let's go Sis, I can't wait to start catching."_

 _Mia and Ashana make their way to the registration._

" _Please be reminded that you are not allowed to battle while in the Great Marsh," the receptionist tells her._

" _Can she just tag along? I'll make sure she doesn't battle."_

" _Just be warned that you're going to be watched and will be asked to leave if you break the rules. Now, here are your bait and your rocks."_

" _Okay, let's go Sis!" Mia walks into the marsh. "Now where do we st-?" A ball of mud hits her in the face. Mia quickly wipes it off as she hears snickering. "You."_

XXX

* * *

Jolteon starts recalling all the trouble Mia had in The Great Marsh thanks to the Skorupi, pitfalls, a lasso trap, slipping into a Yanma nest, wrapped up in Tangela and Carnivine, bumping into an annoyed Toxicroak… By the end of it Mia was a walking Swamp Thing but she caught Skorupi.

"That sounds rough," Diancie says.

"Ti, teon. Jolteon."

"Yeah," Shaymin nodded. "I'm glad that Mia doesn't hold it against him. It must be a pain for Arcanine though." Shaymin jokes.

"It looks like everything has calmed down," Diancie notes the quiet peace around them. "So what do we do now?"

They hear Meloetta singing, Jolteon, Shaymin and Diancie turn to see Meloetta singing a song while Lilligant was dancing. Diancie and Shaymin are enamored by the combination. Meloetta's singing gives off a soothing effect for everyone listening, while Lilligant's dancing spreads glittering pollen and leaves.

"Pretty," Shaymin mutters. He instinctively jumps aside in case Diancie tries to smack him again. But Diancie just stood entranced by Meloetta and Lilligant.

After the dance, Meloetta applauds Lilligant's performance. Lilligant blushes.

"That was amazing!" Shaymin compliments.

"It was so beautiful," Diancie added. "I'd like to learn how to dance like that. Can you teach me?"

"Lilli!" Lillgant grabs Diancie's hand and brings her in. "Lil!" Lilligant does a pose, and a motion.

"Like this? Diancie asks, following the movements.

Meloetta walks up to her and adjusts Diancie's hands a bit, then pulls them in the motion Lilligant was doing.

"Lilligant and Meloetta are really good friends aren't they?" Shaymin asks Ashana.

"Jolt," Jolteon nods.

"We were listening to Sonica's story on how she met Meloetta, how did Mia meet Lilligant?"

XXX

* * *

" _I told you I'm not that interested in this kind of thing," a Petilil overhears Mia's voice, it hops over to see Mia and Sonica standing in front of a sign promoting an amateur Musical contest. "They're wonderful to watch at least, but it looks really hard to pull off."_

" _Come on Mia," Sonica pleaded. "How can you say that when you haven't tried?"_

" _I've tried Contests," Mia answers. "But those had a battle portion, though I never won any. These are just… I don't know if the Pokemon I have would be suited for this kind of thing."_

" _Any Pokemon would work and I'm sure they'll enjoy it," Soncia tells her. "But only if you do. We should get you a Pokemon that would fit a stage more than a battlefield. Then maybe you can start winning some of the Contests around Unova!"_

" _But you're competing too," Mia responds. "You've already got two ribbons."_

" _It's no fun when it's just me, I need you!"_

 _Mia sighs, "Alright, I guess I'll give it another shot. But I'm still not joining the musical."_

" _That's okay," Sonica smiles. "Would you like to see me practice for it?"_

" _Sure, I could use some ideas for the Contests."_

 _Sonica pulled Mia to an empty area of a park. Sonica calls out Ribombee and pulls out her accessory case._

" _Oh, your Cutiefly evolved. Congratulations."_

" _Thank you."_

" _You said you were in the middle of your Island Challenge in Alola before your family moved here, right?"_

" _I only managed to complete the first island, beating the first Kahuna. Then my dad got a job here in Unova so we had to move here."_

" _Was it hard?"_

" _No, we adjusted very quickly, and I like Unova. There's so many things here that aren't back in Alola. I told you that I wanted to become a singer, right? Well, I'm joining in as many competitions as possible to get my name out there, the League, Contests, this musical." Sonica finishes decorating Ribombee and pulls out her guitar. "Alright, here we go."_

 _Sonica starts to sing and play her guitar, Ribombee dances around to the tune of Sonica's beat. As Mia watches the performance, her Jolteon senses something nearby. The Pokemon trots over to the bushes._

" _Phew," Sonica finishes her song._

" _That was great!" Mia applauds._

" _Thanks… huh?"_

 _Mia turns around to see Ashana nudging out a Petilil. "Sis?"_

" _Who's that Pokemon?" Sonica pulls out her Pokedex. "It's a Petilil, but the color is different."_

" _Maybe it's one of those rare alternate color Pokemon, my mother has one."_

" _Jol!" Jolteon nudges the Petili forward. "Jol teon!"_

" _Pii?" The grass Pokemon looked at Jolteon confusingly._

 _Ashana jumped and danced around a bit._

" _Piii…" Petilil looked down shyly._

" _Hey Sonica," Mia starts._

" _Yeah?"_

" _Can you play your song again?"_

" _Huh? Oh, gotcha!" Sonica strums her guitar. "Mi mi miii." She coughs lightly. Sonica start singing her song again._

 _The Petilil starts hopping up and down to the rhythm. It unconsciously releases some powder that brightens the performance. Sonica and Mia both observe the dancing. Sonica finishes the song and Petilil gracefully ends its performance._

" _Looks like it really likes to dance," Mia tells Sonica. "Why don't you take it with you?"_

" _I was thinking the same thing," Sonica pulls out a Pokeball, then hesitates. "You know what? Why don't you take this one?"_

" _Huh?" Mia gives her a confused look._

" _I said we should get you a Pokemon for Contests, this one is perfect."_

" _But it really likes to dance, I think that you'd be a better trainer for it."_

" _It because it likes to dance that I want you to have it," Sonica tells her. "You can get into Pokemon's head's right? I'm thinking that if you do that with the Petilil, some of its enthusiasm for performing would rub off on you. Doing that will definitely help you out in Contests, I want to see you go all out."_

" _If you insist…" Mia walks over to the Petilil. "Hey there, do you want to come with me?"_

" _Piii?" the Petilil tilts its head confused._

" _I know that I'm not the one that you want to be with but my friend here believes we can work together to figure out how to perform the best we can. You and I, we'll be learning to perform together."_

" _She's going to need all the help she can get," Sonica snarks, Ashana seemed to hide a chuckle._

" _Sonica!" Mia huffs up._

" _Hey, I do too. Which is why I need the both of you to push each other so that we can all see exciting performances. And… surely you can feel it too Petilil, Mia's serious about this."_

" _Not like you gave me a choice," Mia argues. "But I know one thing, I don't want to disappoint anyone."_

" _Piii!" Petilil jumps up and down excitedly, it hops onto Mia's arms._

XXX

* * *

Jolteon then continues explaining that Mia participated in several contests mostly using Petilil and later Lilligant. When Sonica got Meloetta, it helped both of them with their performances, especially in the Unova Grand Festival. After the Unova Conference, Mia and Sonica had a private full battle, Meloetta defeated half of Mia's team by herself with the final battle against Lilligant being the most intense. It was more of a dance than a battle. Sonica won the match, but it didn't matter to Lilligant and Meloetta .

"So that's how," Shaymin smiles as Lilligant and Meloetta helped Diancie through their dance.

This didn't go unnoticed by Ashana. "Ti, jolteon?"

"H-huh?" Shaymin's face flushed red.

"Teon. Jol ti ti?"

"M-me and Diancie? D-don't get the wrong idea. She's cute and nice and pretty and andand-"

"And?" Shaymin turns around to see Diancie with a wide smile on her face.

"D-D-Diancie!" Shaymin's face turned redder than before. "I-I was just saying… It's Dawn and the others! Looks like they're taking a lunch break from studying Ash's matches."

Jolteon smirks.

Shaymin flew off towards the hotel, Mia, Sonica and everybody else were coming out carrying bags of food.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author** : Just thought I'd try a Pokemon centric chapter, with the only human being Mia in the flashbacks. Though I wasn't intending on revealing the last two Pokemon's backstories so soon after the previous chapter, it just kind of happened. So that's Mia's full team; Ashana (Jolteon), Arcanine, Skarmory, Absol, Drapion and Lilligant. Gotta work on Ash's now.


	9. Blowing Winds

Shauntal rushes towards a table just outdoors of a fancy restaurant. At that table was a close friend of hers with several other people. "Hey Caitlin!" She waves.

"You're late," Caitlin responds. "Again."

"Sorry," Shauntal smiles scratching the back of her head. "I was trying to type down as much as possible but I lost track of time and missed the bus."

"Honestly, whatever will we do with you?" Caitlin asks.

"If I bet on your tardiness I would win almost every single time," says a fancily dressed man as he flips a coin in the air.

"I'm surprised you didn't start," Shauntal replies.

"There's no fun in a sure bet," Grimsley responds. "Now, the upcoming battle between Ash and Mia, that will be worth betting on." He turns to the four other girls that are sitting with them. "Would any of you like to make a wager? Lillie, Lana, Mallow, Acerola?"

"Heeheehee," Acerola giggles. "Just thinking about the battle they'll have is getting me excited."

"Hey, don't make a game out of Ash and Mia's battle," Mallow tells him.

"This is an important battle for both of them," Lana adds.

"We can't take sides on that," Lillie responds.

"Understandable," Grimsley replies. "No matter what we bet, it won't compare to whatever it is that they are betting."

"Ash and Mia, betting?" Lillie asks.

"Can't you feel the tension in the air between them? There's a history behind this battle, something is weighing down on both of them. I wonder how it will affect their battle." Grimsley's eyes seemed to glow red. "I'm getting excited at the prospect."

"Nice to see your… enthusiasm again Grimsley," Shauntal struggles to compliment. "Still, I wasn't expecting the Alola ladies here. How are you all doing?"

"We're doing great, Shauntal," Lillie answers. "Caitlin was taking a vacation in Alola when the challenge was announced. She decided to bring us along with her to come here and watch the battle."

"More like kidnapped," Mallow sighed. "That butler of yours is really something."

"Where is Mister Darach?" Lana asks, looking around.

"He was here just a moment ago," Acerola comments.

"If you wish to see him," Caitlin starts. "I suggest you finish your cup of tea."

"Huh?"

"Trust me."

"O-okay," Lana takes her tea and finishes the cup. She gently puts the cup down.

"More tea miss?" Darach asks out of nowhere.

"Gyah!" Lana shrieks. "Where'd you come from?"

"I appear when I am needed," Darach says as he pours more tea. "Do not hesitate to call for my assistance. Is that Ash?"

Everyone turns to look at the direction he was looking at, but they saw no one there.

"I don't see… him," Lana tries to tell Darch, but he disappeared. "Where'd he go?"

Caitlin just calmly sips her tea. "Every time."

"So," Lillie tries to break the silence. "What are you doing now Shauntal? Writing another book?"

"Yep, on Mia," Shauntal answers. "Not on her whole adventure like what I did with Ash, not right now. I'm just focusing on everything leading up to this battle."

"Sounds like you're starting with the final chapter first," Caitlin comments.

"I don't want to distract Mia too much from her training, I think she's finally deciding on a team."

"It's taking her this long just to select her Pokemon?" Caitlin asks.

"Could you easily select a team of Pokemon against Ash?," Grimsley asks.

Everyone stayed silent.

"Anyway," Mallow starts. "You haven't come back to Alola since coming to write your books on Ash."

"You can't be writing books all the time, why not take a nice vacation?" Lana suggests.

"May be I will, after the battle," Shauntal responds. "Where's Marshal? Isn't he with you?" She asks Caitlin and Grimsley.

"He was," Caitlin answers. "But a pair of girls with Lucarios challenged him to a battle, he couldn't refuse."

"That sounds just like him," Shauntal smirks then turns to Lillie, Lana, Mallow and Acerola. "What about you four? Do you have any plans before the battle?"

"We're going to go sightseeing with Caitlin," Lana answers. "We're staying in one of her vacation suites here."

"Oh, were you not planning on meeting with Mia?" Shauntal asks.

"It'd be nice," Lillie answers. "But she's never been to Alola, I don't know what we can talk about."

"She's never been to Kalos either," Shauntal replies. "But Serena came to visit."

"I think she's just here to see Ash," Acerola remarks. "Aren't we all?"

Lillie, Lana and Mallow choked on their tea, Acerola chuckles slightly.

"Don't tease them too much Acerola," Caitlin comments. "So Shauntal, why don't you tell us what you know about Mia so far?"

XXX

* * *

"Are you sure we should've left Sonica alone?" Skyla asks as she walked the streets with Elesa, Melody and Bianca. "You just suddenly asked her to write a song to perform at the stadium."

"She asked to be alone with Mia," Elesa mentions. "I think it's for the best."

"She wanted to write the song herself," Melody adds. "And since it's for Mia, she wants to put her all into it. So we can't assist her with that."

"But to suddenly ask her to write it with so little time," Bianca starts. "Will she be okay?"

"As long as she sticks close to Mia, she'll be fine," Melody says. "Lati's with them, I'm sure she'll wonder off and find a picturesque location for when they find her."

"Please don't joke about that," Bianca sighs. "I'm afraid it'll come true."

"Hey, how about this?" Melody asks Elesa, pointing to a window display of a flashy outfit.

Elesa thinks for a moment, "I doesn't exactly say 'Sinnoh' to me."

"Not the right color?" Melody wonders.

"It's not the colors, it's the design. The cold colors work very well for the region, but the design looks like it'll fit Kalos more than Sinnoh."

"Yeah I can see where you're going, the gothic touches do scream Kalos. Hey Bianca, maybe you can get Lati to wear this for you."

"W-what are you saying?" Bianca panics.

"You've never had Lati model for you in your paintings?"

"N-no! That'd be like painting myself into the picture."

"Come on, you'd look really cute in this. It'll really help sell your paintings."

"Melody!" Bianca pouted.

Elesa and Skyla giggled as the two bickered. A soft wind blows through the road.

Skyla feels the air for moment, sensing something. "This is…" Skyla rushes off.

"Skyla?" Elesa notices her running off, alerting Melody and Bianca.

All three follow her through the streets. They spot Lucian standing beside a young man holding a large bug net. They were watching a two on one battle. One of the pair wears a flying outfit commanding a Swellow, the other is dressed like a golfer whom gives commands a Toucannon. Their opponent was a young girl about Mia's age that had a very fierce look on her face. She had long glowing bright pink hair that seemed to be blown upwards, wearing a green scale-ly looking dress and what seemed like ethereal white feathers sprouting out from the back of her wrists, ankles and shoulder blades. The girl battled with a Mega Altaria, albeit a strange looking one with the cloudy wings and tail seeming to form into semi-transparent feathers at its edges while the color gradually changes from white to bright pink.

"Lucian!" Melody calls out.

"Melody," Lucian turns to see the group arriving.

"Skyla!" the young man happily greets. "Long time to see!"

"Hehehe, it's nice to see you again Bugsy," Skyla smiles at his pink flushed cheeks. "So, what's happening here? Why is Winona and Kahili tag teaming a single trainer?"

"That's not just any trainer," Lucian explains to her. "That's Wanda Marvell, one of the few trainers to achieve a Battle Bonds-like relation with their Pokemon. And she's the very same trainer to defeat Mia in the Hoenn League."

"A Battle Bond Trainer," Melody states. "And with a Mega Evolution too."

"I remember hearing about this while I was in Hoenn," Bianca starts "There was an amazing trainer in the league that for one battle only Battle Bonded with a Mega Evolved Pokemon. But the trainer was too tired to keep battling and had to forfeit the match after. It was big news."

"It's unfortunate," Lucian comments. "Having such a powerful form tire you out so much that you can't even battle the next day."

"Sounds like a more extreme version of Mia's Synching ability," Elesa says.

"It most certainly is," Lucian comments. "You need no further proof than this battle."

"She's a lot more powerful than I thought," Kahili says to Winona.

"I warned you," Winona responds. "She first used this when both she and Mia had to hold back a rampaging Mega Rayquaza. It was still a close battle for them, I'm afraid of what would've happened if Wallace and I hadn't stopped Team Zephyr in time."

"Altaria!" Wanda calls out. "Aerial Ace!"

"Toucannon!" Kahili cries. "Slow it down with Rock Blast!"

"Swellow!" Winona yells. "Counter with Aerial Ace!"

Swellow and Altaria exchange high speed clashes in the air as Toucannon observes their movements. The big beaked bird takes aim and fires several large rocks at the dragon. Altaria is pummeled by the rocks, disorientating it temporarily for Swellow to attack it over and over with Aerial Ace.

"Altaria!" Wanda cried out.

"Ready your Beak Blast!" Kahili commands, Toucannon's beak glows red.

"Altaria, break free with Air Cutter!"

Altaria unleashes wind energy around itself, knocking Swellow away.

"FIRE!" Kahili yells out.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Wanda counters.

Toucannon fires a red energy blast, Altaria launches its own energy attack. The two attacks explode against each other creating a massive explosion in the sky. Wanda shields her face from the blast as dust fills the air.

"Swellow!" Wanda hears Winona cry out. "Hyper Beam!"

Altaria is blasted by a powerful beam. Wanda feels the damage. "Ugh! Altaria, counter with Aerial Ace!"

"Protect Swellow with Bullet Seed!" Kahili commands.

Toucannon flies in front of Swellow and rapid fires a stream of seeds at the dragon. While it was able to damage Altaria, it couldn't stop and both birds were knocked downwards.

"This'll finish it! To the skies Altaria!" Wanda calls out, Altaria soars high above Toucannon and Swellow. "Use Draco Meteor!"

"Draco Meteor?" Bianca repeats. "It's powerful but it'll weaken Altaria."

"It must be out of desperation," Bugsy suggests. "They've been in battle for some time now, Wanda probably can't hold onto this forme for much longer."

Altaria charges up an energy ball in front of itself, the ball grows in size as it glows brighter.

"Toucannon!" Kahili crosses her arms together, then swings them up out and down. She crosses them again extending them out in front, then raises them above her head, brings them down to her knees and reaches up to the sky with one hand. "Supersonic Skystrike!"

"Swellow! Brave Bird!"

The two birds glow with power as they flap their wings and begin to hover upwards. They see the glowing ball and the dragon above them. Both of their auras ignite larger and they take off, rocketing to the dragon.

"So fast!" Wanda gasped. "Altaria! Fire now!"

Altaria launches its large energy ball at the two birds. Toucannon and Swellow just keeps flying straight towards it, their auras combine into a single large energy bird. The birds ram into the sphere, their auras protecting them from the ball's energy as they push against it.

"Swellow!"

"Toucannon!"

"GOOOOO!"

Swellow and Toucannon screeched out loud.

The bird's aura's intensified, the bird themselves push against the Draco Meteor!

"No way!" Melody watches in awe.

Toucannon and Swellow push the energy ball upwards, back to Altaria. The dragon covers itself with its wings. There's a massive explosion on impact, Wanda cries out from the pain before dropping to one knee. Her hair drops and changes color to dark blue, with the feather like appendages disappearing as if they were made of light. Toucannon and Swellow fly out of the debris could while Altaria falls to the ground, returning to a regular Altaria. The two birds fly below it and work together to create a cushion of air for Altaria to gently lay onto the ground

Wanda breathes heavily but she looks up to Winona and Kahili walking up to her. "Thank you." The two of them lend her a hand up. Wanda wobbles on her feet for a moment.

"Are you going to be okay?" Winona asks.

"I'll be-whoa!" Wanda almost falls over but Kahili catches her.

"Easy there," Kahili tells her.

"Altaria," Wanda takes out her Pokeball, she's helped by Winona. "Return. You did great."

"You and your Altaria are really something else," Kahili compliments. "Not many people can hold their own against two Elite Fours, let alone almost defeat them."

Swellow and Toucannon chirped excitedly.

"Hehehe-," and embarrassed Wanda giggles, then falls over, Winona catches her.

"Looks like she's really out of it," Winona comments. "She'll need to rest a bit before she can move again. Where's the nearest bench?"

"Here," Lucian offered. "Let me."

"Thanks," Winona handed Wanda's body to him. "Hm? Looks like we've attracted a crowd."

"Winona, Kahili, how're you doing?" Skyla greets them.

"We're doing well," Winona answers. "Your clouds are still soaking up water I see."

"Hey!" Skyla exclamations. "At least I'd float, you'd just glide."

"What?" Bugsy raised an eyebrow.

"She's just full of hot air," Elesa shrugged. "I mean, look at her."

"Not you too Elesa!" Skyla cried.

"Haha," Kahili laughs. "Nice to see everybody again. I should've known that this battle would've brought together a lot of familiar faces."

"There's really no other reason for a gathering like this," Melody answers. "There's still a week left, I'm sure there's going to more showing up. Did you just arrive?"

"Yes," Winona answered. "Me, Bugsy and Wanda met up with Lucian at the port and were headed to the hotel when we ran into Kahili, when I explained to her about Wanda, she wanted battle."

"Let me tell you," Kahili holds her neck and twists it a bit. "I got a lot more than I expected."

"But how it become a two on one?" Skyla asks. "Especially with two Elite Four on one side."

"It was supposed to be a three way battle," Bugsy explains. "They wanted to see which one of them could rule the skies between the three of them but Wanda's Battle Bond-like Mega Evolution kind of forced Sis and Kahili to work together."

"Really?" Skyla replies. "Next time you guys decide to have a sky battle don't forget to call me! I'll show how I fly!"

"I can't wait to see that," Bugsy blurts out.

"Is there a name for Wanda's… power?" Melody asks. "It's weird to keep calling it 'Battle Bond-like'. I mean, isn't it specifically for Ash and his Greninja?"

"It's an ability that changes not only the Pokemon but the trainer as well," Elesa murmurs. "Altaria is a Dragon type too, I'd like to say Dragon Power but it doesn't have that memorable flair."

"What about Dragon Force?" Skyla blurts out. "It sounds intimidating so it should be memorable."

"I like it," Bugsy smiles wide.

"Dragon Force," Elesa repeats. "Yeah, it exudes powerful, unforgettable imagery while also perfectly describing the type of power."

"I think just seeing Wanda transform like that would make it unforgettable," Melody comments. "To think that Mia battled against it."

"To be fair," Winona started. "Wanda wasn't as experienced with it then as she is now, Mia's Sync and this were fairly evenly matched during the tournament."

"I was just lucky," a young girl's voice spoke.

The party turned to Wanda getting up from the bench Lucian laid her on.

"Are you okay?" Lucian asks.

"I'm fine now," Wanda smiles. "Thank you. Except for Altaria, Mia's connection with her Pokemon was stronger than mine, I could feel it when we battled in the tournament. It was Altaria that pulled through for me for most of my battle against her. Mia's connection with Ashana was something else, it really put ours to the limit."

"But you pulled through," Winona comments.

"Yep, somehow," Wanda smiles. "Altaria and I really wanted to win against Mia, but Mia… she wanted to win too, but it felt like it wasn't me that she wanted to defeat."

"I can understand that," Bugsy mentions. "She was never one to take a break once she started her journey. After losing the Kanto Conference she went straight to Johto and Hoenn, went through the Kanto Conference again before heading to Sinnoh and Unova, then came back to finally win the Kanto Conference and now she's challenging Ash."

"Mia… did all that?" Wanda wondered. "Why?"

"Well Ash is her father."

"What?!" Wanda screamed out loud.

"Ohh," Melody winced. "You guys didn't tell her before coming here?"

"It didn't occur to us that she didn't know," Winona answered.

"It's a secret to everybody," Bugsy explains. "Except to family members and close friends."

"But I was never told," Wanda mumbles.

"Don't worry about it," Melody reassures her. "I'm sure she only did that so as not to put a wall around herself. You're not the only one here that just found out about it, there's a friend of hers here from Unova. What do you say we go and meet with them?"

"That's what we're here for," Winona answers.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Yep, decided to bring in another rival for Mia to interact with, as well as some Alola cameos. I wanted to bring in his Alola friends but that would've crowded up the story too much too fast, so they're just appearing for that little scene for now. And like Sonica, Wanda is also... 'based' on an already existing character, I believe this one is much easier to figure out than Sonica's.


	10. Unexpected Guests

Ritchie waits in front of the hotel for the incoming Garchomp and Dragonite, Sparky's cheeks light up momentarily. The dragons slowly descended onto the hotel. Their trainers jump off in front of Ritchie.

"Lance, Cynthia, glad you two could make it," Ritchie greets them with a handshake and a quick hug.

"Pika!" Sparky waves at them.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world," Cynthia smiles.

"Melody called us herself," Lance tells him.

"Yeah," Ritchie scratches his cheek. "I've heard."

"Unfortunately Verity is busy at the moment," Cynthia tells him. "It could be a while before she's able to attend."

"Heh," Ritchie smiles. "I've been so preoccupied with just being a Champion that I forget that the others have other professions."

"Where is everyone?" Cynthia looks around.

"Mia is training in the back with her friend, everyone else is in town. Sorry that it's just me to greet you."

"Well, it's not like we're expecting some grand reception," Lance smirks. "We are retired after all."

"Why don't you come inside?" Ritchie offers. "I'm sure we've got a lot to talk about."

"I'm sure we do," Lance wraps his arm around Ritchie's neck. "So how many losses does this make now? Are you sure you should still be a Champion?"

"Hey! Even I'm surprised how strong all these trainers are getting."

"Then that means you're slacking in your own training," Cynthia giggles then takes out a Pokeball. "Perhaps we should see if you've really improved any."

XXX

* * *

"So this is the place," a man and a young woman walk towards the secluded shack.

A number of Ash's Pokemon turn to see them approaching.

"Hey!" the man waves happily to them.

Greninja immediately recognizes the trainers and rushes over.

"Greninja!" the man greets happily. "Long time no see!"

The Pokemon responds happily.

"Is Ash here?"

Greninja turns and points to the mountains.

"Looks like we have to wait until he comes back Alain," the girl says.

"I came all this way just to see how he's been doing, Mairin, I can wait a little longer. We just need a way to pass the time."

Ash's Primeape walks up to Alain and shows off its belt.

"Oh, you want a battle?" Alain smirks. "I've got time to kill."

XXX

* * *

"This one?" Ash calls from the top of a tree down to where Anabel was waiting.

"The one on the left!" Anabel corrects him.

Ash plucks a berry and lets it drop into Anabel's hands. Anabel instructs him to get a couple more before grabbing one for himself and jumping down. He breaks off a piece and hands it to Pikachu before biting into it himself.

"Ack!" They both spit it out. "It's dry, bitter and sour."

"I warned you didn't I?" Anabel chuckles. "I've read about some of the local berries in the other regions and I've been wanting to experiment with them in my cooking."

"Can you really make something out of these?"

"I've had a lot of spare time whenever I'm not taking any challengers to the Battle Tower. You should see how big the garden is now. Erika comes over every now and then to help take care of it."

"Heh, sounds awesome. Can't wait to try what you've got."

"This is my first time working with this kind of berry," Anabel smirks. "Hope you don't mind."

"As long as I get to eat."

Anabel puts on an annoyed face. "Does that mean it doesn't matter what I make as long as you can eat?"

"W-what? N-no! I'm sure whatever you make will be great."

"It didn't sound like it," Anabel responds annoyed. "Perhaps I'll try for an extra sour flavor for your plate."

"Aww, come on Anabel. Don't be like that."

Pikachu and Espeon laugh.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu hops down and walks up to Espeon.

"Espii!" The two rubbed cheeks together affectionately.

"Come on," Anabel leads. "Let's see what other Berries are here."

The group traverses through the forest, making small talk as the Pokemon playfully walked beside them.

" _Hehehe! Mama, Papa, Sis! Hurry!"_

" _Slow down, Ione! We'll be right there!" Anabel calls to the young girl and her Eevee._

They made it to a small lake in the middle of the forest. All four stopped at the edge of the water.

" _Waaaaa!" the young girl looks out to the lake. "It's so pretty!"_

" _I knew you'd like it," Anabel smiles to her daughter's beaming face._

" _Thanks mommy! Come on Papa! Picnic! Picnic!" the young girl jumped around her father._

" _Veee!"Eevee jumped with her._

" _Haha, just a little longer," Ash tries to hide his fatigue._

" _You're out of practice," Anabel jokes. "Has becoming the World Champion Master made you lazy?"_

" _Give me a break, I don't usually travel with this much weight on my back." Ash says as he lays down the huge hiker's bag. "Phew, how did those guys do it?"_

" _Piiiiicnic, piiiiicnic," the girls starts twirling and singing with Eeevee, Espeon and Pikachu while Ash and Anabel set up._

"This place looks like…" Ash trails off.

"That lake back home," Anabel finishes. "It's been so long. That was the last time all three of us were happily together."

Ash just stares out onto the water, remembering a young girl playing around by the lake's edge.

"Do you think we'll be able to go back to those days?" Anabel asks.

Ash stayed quiet.

"Can you really battle her like that?" Anabel asks, breaking him out of his trance.

"Huh?"

"I'm starting to think that Ione's more mentally prepared for the battle than you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been her goal from the start, ever since she became a trainer."

"A lot of trainers start out like that."

"Don't you remember what Paul said? She has a 'motivation'. Different from everybody else."

"What's different about hers?"

"Her goal isn't to beat you, but she won't hold back either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She'll be fighting you with everything she's learned and experienced. What are you going to fight her with?"

"I'll be fighting her with everything I've got. Just like everybody else."

"Is that it?" Anabel peers into Ash's eyes. "Everything you have? Against her, what do you have? Just your fighting spirit? Can you even bring it up against her?"

"What are you saying Anabel?"

"It's all coming up now, isn't it? Everything that started all those years ago."

Ash's hand glows with aura again, Anabel holds that hand, the aura disappears. She raises the hand up to between them and places her other hand over it.

"Ever since that day, you've never really enjoyed battling have you? Even Ione can sense that."

"What are you talking about? I-"

"You smile, you laugh, you congratulate, you try to hide it but we can see it. When there's something at stake, it reminds you of that day. Then you win the battle, but you lose yourself. Ione will not be like any challenger you've faced before. You stand to lose so much more than the title against her.

You've never seen her since then, have you? Gary and I have been telling you her progress, but you never went out of your way to see her, or even watch her matches. But now, in a few days, you'll need to battle her on your own. The guilt you've been feeling since then, you need to face it. You need to face her…"

"Anabel…"

"You, I, and Ione… there's nothing but love between us. But you need to stop thinking of Ione as a little girl. In all her travels, all her battles, she's grown phenomenally."

He takes a deep breath, "You're right Anabel. I guess I can't get anything past you, can I?" He gives her a warm smile.

"You were really bad at hiding things from me," Anabel smiles back. "But this is something you'll need to figure out on your own."

"I will… I'll try," Ash looks back out onto the lake.

After a moment of silence, a gentle breeze blows through them. A Magikarp suddenly jumps out of the water. Both Ash and Anabel giggle to themselves.

" _Look look! I caught a fish!" Ione calls her parents as she tightly held a struggling Magikarp._

" _I-Ione, put that back!" Anabel panics._

"I think we should head back now," Anabel suggests. "I'm going need time to experiment with these."

"Yeah, let's."

XXX

* * *

Ash and Anabel feel a shockwave as a dust cloud erupts where their shack is located.

"What the-?" Anabel covers her face from the wind.

"It's coming from the house!" Ash rushes forward.

"PRIIIIIIIIMAPE!"

"MEEEETAAAAA!"

The two Pokemon's punches collide. The shockwave knocks them both back. The two Pokemon's bodies tear up the ground as they come to a stop.

"Metagross!" Alain calls out.

"Me…ta…" Metagross tries to get up, but collapses.

"RIIIIIIII!" Primape screeches out loud victorious.

"Looks like Primape wins this one," Mairin comments.

"Yeah," Alain pulls out a Pokeball. "Good job, return."

"Alain?" Ash and Anabel arrive to the scene of the battle.

"And Mairin too," Anabel notes.

"Hi Ash, Anabel," Mairin waves, smiling. "Surprise!"

"Hey Ash," Alain greets. "Long time no see."

"It sure has," Ash and Alain walk up to each other band bump arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Alain asks back. "It's your World Champion defense match against your own daughter."

"Everyone seems to be showing up because of that."

"If she's anything like you were back then, then I know it's going to be more worth it to watch in person."

"Boys," Anabel smirks with Mairin.

"Paul told me where you were," Alain explains. "I thought I'd come by and say hi, may be get in a battle or two."

"Awesome, I'm always up for more training partners."

Anabel watches as the two of them set up for another battle. _Ash, when was the last time you really battled? When was the last time someone managed to push you to the corner and bring out your very best? A man who reached his limit and can't go any further, and his daughter who keeps reaching beyond her limits._ Anabel smirks to herself. _I can't help but get excited to see this battle, and yet…_ Anabel looks over to Ash as he battles Alain. _What will happen to those two when they finally go all out?_

XXX

* * *

"You better have a good explanation for returning to Sinnoh." A man on the monitor speaks to Team Comet.

"B-but boss!" The Psyduck pleads. "You wouldn't believe the Pokemon we've seen here. They're all super rare. L-look!" Psyduck holds up a series of photos.

"Then why haven't you taken them yet?"

"T-there's a lot of powerful trainers and Pokemon here, we're outmatched." Jane explains.

"Then you being there is nothing but a waste of time and resources. Return to base, I've had enough of all three of you. You'll be punished severely."

"B-b-b-but boss-!" The three of the

"Enough," the man reaches for a button.

"W-wait! We know who Ash's daughter is!"

The man paused, "This better not be a joke."

"I-it isn't!" Jetson replies. "We overheard them talking about the battle, then they were talking about Ash's daughter battling him."

"The World Champion's challenger?"

"Yeah her!" the Psyduck answers.

"Are you certain of this? Surely we would've known about her long before now."

"She registered a different name with the Pokemon League, but apparently her mother, father and relatives all call her different names."

"Is that so? Fine, you are to be on standby until further orders."

"S-sir!"

The man cuts off communications with them and sits back a moment, feeling the scars that riddle half of his face. He opens up a profile of Mia and takes a close look at it. Silently, he sends his fist through the screen. The metallic, prosthetic arm is stuck momentarily, he pulls it out shortly after. Then he gets up and walks off, the cracked picture of Mia flickers, sparks and shuts off.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Oooh the drama, the stalling! XD. I decided to further expand on the 'incident' that caused Ash and Mia's current situation instead of just vague flashbacks or mentions. Well, no that's not exactly accurate. I've always wanted to go into depth of that incident, but I just changed the cause of it for... dramatic reasons.


	11. Clash of Champions

"Sparky!" Ritchie calls out to his Pokemon. "Thunderbolt again!"

"Pikaaa-chuuu!"

"Dragonite! Avoid it!" Lance yells out.

Sparky fires off several powerful electrical blasts at the flying dragon.

"Extreme Speed," Lance mutters.

His Dragonite flies in at blinding speed.

"Double Team!"

Sparky splits into several copies. Dragonite slams into the ground so hard the shockwaves blows all the copies away.

"Pikaaa!" The force of shockwave even blows back Sparky.

"Sparky!" Ritchie yells.

"Use Ice Beam!" Lance orders.

"Block it with Thunderbolt!"

Sparky fires a Thunderbolt to meet with Dragonite's Ice Beam. The two clashing attacks explode, leaving large crystals of ice all over the field.

"Impressive," Lance smirked.

"I don't remember Sparky matching Dragonite in terms of power," Cynthia comments.

"Like I said!" Ritchie interrupts. "I haven't been slacking in my training!"

"And here I thought my Dragonite would win just by flicking its tail," Lance mocked.

"Hey!" Ritchie yelled. "Now you're asking for it, Sparky! Use Quick Attack!"

"Extreme Speed," Lance quietly orders.

Sparky and Dragonite charge towards each other, Dragonite's larger physique easily overpowers Sparky. The Pikachu is sent flying into the air, Dragonite stops itself on its feet.

"Thunderbolt!" Ritchie calls out.

Sparky fires a powerful electric blast at Dragonite. Dragonite twitches from the damage.

"Don't let up!" Ritchie encourages his Pokemon.

"Dragonite!" Lance voices out to Dragonite. "You can break out of this can't you?"

Dragonite's eyes narrowed.

"Sure you can."

Dragonite flies upwards, powering through the Thunderbolt, his fist ignited.

"Sparky!" Ritchie worries.

Dragonite flaming uppercuts the small yellow animal.

Cynthia face palmed, "Really Lance? That reference?"

Sparky hits the ground hard, but manages to get up soon after, though injured. He gives Dragonite a determined look. The Dragonite panted hard, it is visibly fatigued from tanking Sparky's attack.

"That dealt more damaged than I thought," Lance noted. "Dragonite! Ice Beam!"

"Double Team Sparky!"

Sparky split up into several illusions. Dragonite's Ice Beam hits one of the Pikachus, he turned the beam to sweep through the field, hitting several Pikahus while leaving behind crystals of ice.

"Hit it again Sparky!"

One of the Pikachus unleash a strong electric bolt at Dragonite.

"Avoid it with Extreme Speed!" Lance reacts.

Dragonite evades the large electric bolt. It dives down at breakneck speeds.

"Perfect," Ritchie smiles. "Sparky! Use Quick Attack to keep away and hit the ice!"

"The ice?" Lance questions Ritchie's action.

"Interesting," Cynthia places a hand under her chin.

Sparky is covered in a white aura as he runs away from Dragonite. Dragonite flies low to the ground as it chases Sparky through the field. The Pikachu rams through several ice clusters, sending their broken shards to Dragonite. The damage of the ice shards accumulates as Dragonite pursues Sparky.

"Dragonite! Fly up!" Lance orders, noticing his Dragonite is slowing down from the damage.

"Not so fast!" Ritchie taunts. "Sparky! Send that crystal into the air!"

Sparky hit a large cluster of ice, breaking it off the ground and sending it skyward.

"Now, Thunderbolt!"

"Piikaaa-CHUUU!" Sparky's Thunderbolt pushes the large ice chunk, ramming it into the Dragonite. Dragonite falls back to the ground.

"Dragonite!" Lance worries.

The dragon has trouble getting up.

"Alright Sparky," Ritchie encourages his partner. "It's all or nothing here. Use Electro Ball!"

"Pika!" Sparky's body exploded with electrical energy. He sends that energy to gather above himself, creating a huge sphere of light.

"Dragonite! Draco Meteor now!" Lance cries out.

Dragonite gathers energy in front of his gaping mouth. The two energy spheres increase in size and power.

"FIRE!" Lance and Ritchie yell out.

"PIIIKAA!"

Both Sparky and Dragonite launch their attacks towards each other. The two attacks collide, intact, while continuously pushing against each other and sending it out energy waves. The ground beneath them craters, dust and earth fly, shards of earth break outwards. Ritchie, Sparky, Cynthia, Dragonite and Lance all shield their faces.

Ritchie tries his best to keep an eye on the field. "Sparky! Get ready!"

Sparky dropped on all fours, cheeks sparking.

The Electro Ball explodes, creating a large dust cloud in the middle of the field.

Lance and Dragonite stare into the cloud, awaiting anxiously. Lance sees Sparky burst out of the cloud headed straight for Dragonite. At the top of the cloud burst out several small energy beams, it was Draco Meteor, and it's bending around to aim for the Pikachu as it races across the field towards Dragonite.

"Sparky! Quick Attack!" Ritchie calls out to his partner.

Sparky is covered in a white aura and speeds up towards the dragon as the Draco Meteor follows from above.

 _Dragonite is too weak to get away in time!_ "Dragonite! Ice Beam! Stop that Pikachu!"

Dragonite launches a blue beam that the Pikachu sidesteps. Dragonite fires off more Ice Beams that Pikachu evades while dashing forward. Draco Meteor begins to rain down around Sparky. Still, Sparky charges forward, through the raining meteors and the Ice Beam barrage.

"Dragonite! Fire Punch!"

Dragonite's fist ignites. It rears up as Sparky jumps. The dragon howls as it sends his fist forward. The illusion disappears.

"Double Team?" Lance frantically scans the area, he sees Sparky clinging onto Dragonite's tail!

"Thunderbolt with everything you have!" Ritchie yells triumphantly.

"Pika-! CHUUU!"

Dragonite is covered in electrical energy, it howls and swings its tail around. Then the rest of the Draco Meteor bombards him.

"Dragonite!" Lance looks on, worried.

As the Draco Meteor ended, Sparky is swung off of Dragonite's tail. Sparky skids on two feet and one hand then he looks up confidently at Dragonite. The dragon stares him down, breathing hard, then topples over.

"And the winner is Ritchie and Sparky!" Cynthia announces.

"Yes!" Ritchie runs up to meet and celebrate with his Pikachu.

Lance walks towards Dragonite's head and pets him. "You did great, it's time to rest." Lance pulls out a Pokeball and recalls Dragonite. "I must say Ritchie, I'm impressed."

"Hehehe," Ritchie giggles. "I told you I haven't been slacking."

"That just makes those challengers even more amazing," Cynthia tells him. "This generation is growing faster than we anticipated."

"Compared to Ritchie, may be," Lance adds.

"Hey!" Ritchie reacts.

"Heeey!" Mia screams at a distance, waving at them.

"Hey!" Ritchie waves back.

"Here she comes," Cynthia smiles. "Looks like Bianca and Latias are here too. But who is that?"

"One of her friends from Unova, Sonica."

"Are those-?" Mia starts.

"Former Champions Lance and Cynthia!" Sonica finished.

The two former Champions waved to greet the two girls.

"I was wondering who's been making those huge explosions," Mia commented. "It's good to see you again Lance, Cynthia."

"It's been a while," Lance replies. "At least this time we don't have any excruciating circumstances."

"Hmhmhm," Cynthia giggles. "I've heard of the Tyranitar rampage that was stopped by many brave trainers. You were there?"

"I just battled the Tyranitars with several other people," Mia answers. "Lance was the one that stopped that crazy machine."

"What about when Dialga was captured and controlled?" Lance questions. "You both were there weren't you?"

"I was only trying to destroy the control rings all over Dialga while Cynthia distracted it."

"I had full confidence in your capabilities," Cynthia comments. "I saw the connection you had with your Pokemon, I knew you would be able to succeed."

"Hehehe," Mia blushes, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Hmph," Sonica glares at Mia.

"Wh-what?"

"It sounds like you had some really exciting adventures," Sonica answers. "I'm jealous."

"I-I swear I wasn't looking for anything crazy like that! They just happened!"

"Hahaha," Ritchie laughs. "What is it with you and your father getting sucked into crazy situations?"

"Just another thing that she inherited," Lance says with a smirk.

"I wonder what kind of adventures you would've had if you continued into Kalos and Alola," Cynthia begins to wonder.

"I don't want to think about it," Mia sighs. "I don't know how my father could handle being in the center of so many end of the world events."

"I didn't hear anything in Unova," Sonica thinks.

"We usually just keep the situations as secret as possible," Lance explains. "But we do have to report them to the Association whom then informs every Champion, current and former, as well as Elite Four and Gym Leaders. If the public knew-"

"Miiiiaaaaa!" a young girl calls out, followed by several other people.

"Huh?" Mia leans forward. "Wanda?"

"Wanda?" Sonica repeats.

"And Uncle Bugsy, Aunt Winona!" Mia waves just before she's glomped on my Wanda.

"We saw the explosions," Lucian starts. "And hurried over. Is everything alright?"

"There's no problem," Cynthia explains. "Just a friendly match."

"Cynthia?" Lucian notices her presence.

"It's nice to see you again Lucian."

"Everyone seems to be on edge." Lance observes.

"We thought it was Team Comet again," Melody replies. "They just don't give up. You're here for the match?"

"Of course," Cynthia answers.

"Where's Verity?" Melody looks around. "Busy?"

"Unfortunately," Cynthia answers. "But she promised to be here to see the battle in person."

"It's been so long Mia," Wanda lets go and happily smiles wide.

"It really has," Mia smiles back. "Auntie, Uncle. You made it."

"Of course we did," Bugsy smiles.

"We wouldn't miss this for anything," Winona adds.

"Jol!" Jolteon barks.

"Hey Ashana," Wanda kneels down to pet the Pokemon. "Heeheehee, you've gotten a lot stronger. I'm stronger too."

"I'd like to see it,"" Mia replies.

"Same here," Sonica walks forward with her hand out. "Sonica, Sonica Strumm. I'm a friend of Mia's from Unova."

"Wanda, Wanda Marvell." Wanda shakes Sonica's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"I feel the same way," Sonica smiles. "Mia told me about you. You're… smaller than I thought."

"Uh oh," Mia's eye's widened.

"I… get that a lot," Wanda smiles while producing a menacing aura.

XXX

* * *

In a shadowy hanger, a man walks towards an airship. On either side of him are armies of minions.

"Sir!" a man in a lab coat rushes up to him. "Sir! It's too dangerous to use it now! The artificial genetic enhancement we made to your Pokemon were rigorously tested so we're excited to see the results of our work. But this isn't ready yet. We need to-"

The first man stops and turns around. "Load it! Its power will be directed against those trainers. Even if it breaks free, we can just capture it again, while we capture all the rare and powerful Pokemon gathered there."

"But do we really need every available unit just for this operation? It's madness!"

"Madness? Our reports indicate not just the Mythical Pokemon, but strong veteran trainers as well. Think about it, if… when we take those Pokemon and defeat those trainers, everyone will know how powerful we are! The world will be ours!"

The small army roars out. The leader turns around and continues walking to the airship and begins talking under his breath. "The world can burn for all I care. My true goal is revenge. Ash, you and your daughter will pay for what you did to me."

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Yep, another chapter where essentially nothing happens. The battle between Lance and Ritchie was recycled from the previous version of this fic, I thought it a waste to just toss it away and brought here.


	12. Plans

"Whoaaa!" Wanda looks over the city from on top of a plaza.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Mia feels the wind through her hair. "We found this place the other day. Too bad it takes a while to travel here. You should see it when the sun rises or sets. Right Sonica?"

Sonica sits, traumatized. "She's not small- she's not small- she's not small…"

"I think you broke her," Mia comments to Wanda.

"S-sorry…" Wanda embarrassingly chuckles a bit while holding the back of her head. "It's just become a habit."

"You've calmed down since yesterday though, right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"I'm amazed though, your Dragon Force Altaria managed to fight evenly with Meloetta."

"Meloetta was amazing!" Wanda's eyes lit up. "I've never seen such a beautiful Pokemon, and one so strong too!"

"Wait until you hear her sing," Sonica starts. "It's serene, yet powerful. Her songs are really calming. Honestly, I want to be able to sing like her."

"You do?" Wanda wonders. "You mostly do pop and rock though. Meloetta's more opera."

"She does pop too," Mia interrupts. "Probably to help with writing Sonica's songs."

"It's not the genre," Sonica explains. "It's how she sings. Being able to catch everyone's attention even with a soothing melody. At times you can visualize pictures with them. Like a storybook.

"And she's just singing her own name," Mia jokes.

"I know, right?" Sonica blurted out. "I guess there's just some things that Pokemon can do that people can't."

"But your songs are great to listen to!" Wanda tells her. "I was listening to you CD all night."

"Thank you," Sonica smiles. "I do try to write songs that are enjoyable to listen to. But I just can't seem to write any song that really stays. Or anything like Meloetta's melodies. She's been helping me a lot in writing my songs."

"Are you getting her to help you in your next song?" Mia asks.

"No," Sonica shakes her head. "I want to write this one on my own. I just don't know what to write."

"Well," Mia starts. "What do you normally think about when writing songs?"

"Usually my experiences," Sonica answers. "What I felt during my adventure, my battles. I've been doing that for so long that I'm having trouble thinking up songs if I haven't had a good battle in a while."

"Our battle wasn't good?" Wanda asks.

Sonica is suddenly downtrodden again. "She's not small- she's not small- she's not small…"

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Mia face palmed. "Seriously you two."

Ashana chuckled to herself.

"Anyway, there's still a few days before the match. I still need to train with my Pokemon team. So we can have a bunch of battles to inspire you."

"Are you sure you're not going too hard on your Pokemon?" Wanda asks.

Mia shakes her head. "I know it looks like I'm pushing them really hard. But I also know they don't want to lose against my father. After all, that's what my journey's been all about."

"Oh yeah," Wanda's eyes perked up. "I need to ask. Why are you so focused on battling your father?"

Mia smiles, staring at both of her eager friends. "I guess I will have to tell you sooner or later." Mia took a deep breath. "Just give me some time. I want to make sure I'm ready to tell you."

"Sounds serious," Sonica says.

"It's not as dramatic as you're probably thinking," Mia tells them. "I hope you two haven't been watching too much anime."

"You haven't seen your father since you were young right?" Wanda asks.

"Yeah," Mia answers. "After… that time… he just stopped coming home. And I've never seen him in person since."

"He's not seeing anyone is he?" Sonica wonders.

"WHAT?! NO!" Mia screams. "He would never do that! He loves my mother and me dearly!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sonica panics with her hands waving. "It just blurted out."

"What made you think that?"

"May, Dawn, Lyra, Serena…" Wanda lists. "Your father seems to have a way of attracting women."

"I… I can't argue that," Mia sighs. "But I'm certain that my father wouldn't do such a thing."

"I think we should change the topic now," Sonica suggests. "Is anyone hungry? Elesa and Skyla said that there's a really good restaurant near here. We can even battle there with other people or some of the staff."

"That sounds interesting," Wanda replies.

"Yeah, that sounds neat!" Mia agrees.

XXX

* * *

"I can't believe we were in there for that long," Sonica smiles wide.

"Mia just kept on battling everyone," Wanda explains.

"More like everyone wanted to battle Mia," Sonica corrects her. "They just kept coming. We hardly got any battles in."

"Hehe," Mia giggles. "I'm sorry."

"I guess it can't be helped," Sonica sighs. "May be that's why Melody reserved that whole hotel for you to train in private. It might get annoying to walk around with people stopping us. I think we should get you some new clothes."

"Huh?"

"A disguise," Sonica explains. "Even if it's for just a little while. So that you're a little harder to recognize."

"Yeah!" Wanda jumps excitedly. "You always wear the same clothes. I've never seen you wear anything else. Even in Contests."

"Eh?" Sonica's ears perked. "You seriously wore that in Contests?"

"I don't carry any fancy dresses on me," Mia replies. "Remember? I always ask for any of your spare dresses in the Unova Contests."

Sonica face palms. "What kind of girl only wears one set of clothes?"

"What kind of girl wears her casual clothes when she performs up on stage?" Wanda adds.

"Hey!" Mia puts her hands on her hips, giving an angry look.

The two girls smirk at each other. They both grab an arm and drag Mia away.

"Wha-!? Hey!"

XXX

* * *

"Oh look at all these!" Wanda points to line of fancy clothes. "How'd you find this place Sonica?"

"Elesa told me," Sonica answers. "I'm looking for more clothes to wear on stage. I can use Mia to model for me!"

"What?" Mia yelped. "I didn't agree to that!"

"Come on!" Sonica led Wanda in.

Mia sighs deeply and walks in.

"Oh!" Wanda walks over to a shelf. "They have cosplay here too. Princesses, gothic, kimonos, old renaissance, famous Gym Leaders…"

"I've got an idea," Sonica pulls out her camera.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Mia's head dropped out of disbelief.

XXX

* * *

After putting on and taking pictures of various different clothes, the three of them finally decide (Mia reluctantly) on two sets.

"You have really pretty hair," Wanda caresses at Mia's long lilac hair. "Why do you keep it under your hat?"

"It takes a long time to wash," Mia answers. "I travel on foot a lot. So there's a lot of things the can get caught in it."

"And it's a color you really want to keep as clean as possible," Sonica holds up her hair. "Look at how it shines."

"Can you please stop playing with my hair?" Mia yanks her hair back. She quickly turns it into a puffy pony tail. She goes to pick up the clothes that they picked out. It was a sleeveless white shirt with a black vest and incredibly short short jeans made to look like the leggings were ripped off.

"Damn girl," Sonica let out. "That looks totally rad. And that scar of yours really adds to it."

Mia looks at her scar and into the mirror. "It does, doesn't it? But-"

"Something wrong?" Sonica asks.

"The shorts… they're really, really short. Do they really need the tears? It's showing more than enough leg already."

"Apparently that style is really popular in Unova."

"With the guys, right?"

"Err…" Sonica doesn't give an answer.

Mia sighs, "I've already gone this far." She goes into the change room and comes out wearing the new clothes. She moves around in the clothes to get a feel for them. "This is so embarrassing…"

Asaha just drops her head, blushing, and covers her eyes with her paws.

After a few seconds, Sonica snapped some shots.

"I thought we were done with that!" Mia complains.

"I'm thinking of wearing it myself," Sonica replies. "But I can't pull off that hair though. I wonder if I can fake that or use something else like it."

"How do those clothes feel Mia?" Wanda wonders.

"Cold," Mia answers. "They're very cold."

"Cold?" Sonica repeats confused.

"Oh right," Wanda understands. "Sinnoh is a cold place. Of course clothes like those would be a little chilly."

"What about you?" Mia asks Wanda, whom is wearing a loose green dress.

"Magnolia's in a cold part of Hoenn, and one of my friends specializes in Ice types, so I'm used to the cold. But I like that school like uniform. It's comfy and easy to wear."

"And I found this really cool stylish outfit," Sonica jumps in. "It looks super futuristic!"

"I also found this really beautiful white dress too."

"What about me?" Mia interrupts. "I can't go out like this, I'll freeze!" Mia grabs the other set of clothes set aside for her and rushes into the change room.

"How are we going to pay for all of these anyway?" Wanda asks Sonica.

"Elesa said she'll repay me for any clothes I buy for work," Sonica answers. "So as long as it's related to my work, we can get as many as we want."

"But we're not working with you," Wanda tells her.

"Oh?" Sonica smirks. "I was hoping you'd join me on stage during Mia's battle."

"Wha-what?!" Wanda shrieked. "Bu-bu-but I-!"

"There's no need to freak out like that," Sonica calms her down. "I'll just have you be a back-up singer. I at least want you to be on stage with me."

"But why?"

"Because we're close friends of Mia."

Wanda gives a great smile and Sonica smiles back.

"Will you be able to write a song in time? We'd need to practice too."

"I'll think of one, don't worry. I just need the right inspiration."

"How's this?" Mia walks out of the change room. She's wearing a blue and white shirt with a yellow skirt and black stockings. Her hair is rolled up into a pair of buns on either side of her head with a small streak hanging out of them.

After a moment of thinking, Sonica gave a thumbs up. "They're greeeeeaaaaat!"

"That looks even more embarrassing," Wanda comments. "That skirt is really short, and the stockings with the short skirt are really putting more attention to your legs."

"ARGH! I don't want to think about it," Mia yells. "Let's just go with this."

"Someone's cranky," Sonica snarks.

XXX

* * *

Mia, in her new clothes, Sonica and Wanda wander the streets. They traverse through parks, tourist attractions, the pier, and more stores.

"Wow," Wanda looks at the sun nearing the horizon. "Time really flies."

"We should start heading back," Sonica suggests. "Melody special ordered some exquisite cuisine from Kalos. I can't wait to try them."

As the three girls walk towards the bus stop, they notice a couple leaving a restaurant. One is a man wearing cap and a Pikachu on his shoulder. The other is a blond woman hanging onto his arm with her own Pikachu at her feet.

"Father?" Mia just blurts out.

"Huh?" the pair turn around to see the group.

The two groups just look at each other.

"Father?" the woman repeated, then gave her partner an angry look. "Reeed…"

"What?" the man panics. "I didn't do anything I swear!"

"S-sorry!" Mia apologized "You just looked at lot like him."

"Huh?" the man reacts. "Wait, is your father-?"

"Heeheehee," the woman giggles. "Not that hard to figure out, right?"

"You really had me going there, Yellow."

"Your father is Ash, isn't it?" The woman asks her. She kneels down to pet Jolteon. "Heeheehee, it's been a while Ashana. I haven't seen you in a long time."

"You know Sis?" Mia asks, noticing Ashana's warm reception to her.

"We were there when she hatched," the woman explained as she stood up. "And at your parent's wedding."

"Really?" Sonica asks.

"Yeah," Red answers boastfully. "We're good friends of his."

"That's great," Wanda claps her hands. "So, who are you?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh?" the woman notices Sonica and Wanda. "I'm sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves. My name is Yellow, and he's Red."

"Sonica Strumm."

"Wanda Marvell."

"Mia."

"Mia," Red repeats. "Ash's daughter and challenger."

"Reeed," Yellow whines.

"I know, I know," Red smugly shrugs.

"Huh?" Mia tilts her head.

"I'm sorry," Yellow apologizes. "He can be battle hungry."

"Yeah we've already had our fair share of battles earlier," Sonica comments. "Mia's Pokemon are quite tired right now."

"Oh, dang," Red slumps.

"Don't mind him," Yellow giggles. "We were sightseeing the whole day and he's just itching for a battle. Even though we're supposed to be on vacation." She mumbles to Red. "We really had to beg the Professor to give us these days off. We still don't know where the hotel Melody told us is."

"Oh, we can help with that," Sonica mentions.

XXX

* * *

"Are sure about this Officer Jenny?" Lance asks the woman on the other side of the phone as he's meeting with Ritchie, Lucian, Cynthia, Kahili and Winona. "When are you expecting them?"

"Soon," She answered. "I've already relayed the information to the Association. We're preparing for them as best as we can without alerting the populace."

"Alright, keep us informed. We'll make preparations here as well." Lance hangs up and looks at the picture that the officer sent her.

"Trouble?" Gary walks in.

"Yeah," Lance answers. "Team Comet..."

"That looks serious," Gary peeks at the picture. "What could they be after?"

"We have a bunch of extremely rare Pokemon gathered here," Ritchie answers.

"I imagine that Mia's status as a challenger has put a price on her Pokemon as well," Lucian adds.

"Can we really stop them by ourselves?" Winona asks.

"If its an aerial battle, then we have an advantage," Kahili notes. "And as the vanguard, we'll strike first."

"We should inform the others at least so that they're prepared," Cynthia suggests. "Just try not to unnerve Mia and her friends unless it is absolutely necessary."

XXX

* * *

"How much longer?" Team Comet's leader asks out loud, sitting on a commanding chair on the bridge of his airship.

"We should be able to reach our target in a couple hours."

"Good, tell our forces to prepare!" He ordered. (Finally…) He popped open a compartment on his chair, revealing Mega stones. He picked up the Aggronite and stared into it deeply.

XXX

Mia collapses onto her bed with her sister next to her. "Today was crazy," she strokes Ashana gently. "Red really did look like father didn't he?" Jolteon snuggles up with her and gives a happy cheek to cheek rub. "Hehehe Hey…" Mia turns to lay on her back. She lifts up her arm and stares at the scar on her arm.

XXX

The Aggronite in his hand and the scar on her arm start to glow as Team Comet's leader and Mia stare in to them, reminiscing.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Just a nice little hangout chapter with Mia and her friends. Until the end which is quite foreboding.

Originally I was going to hint that Ash is seeing another woman without Anabel knowing (truthfully he's just seeing Officer Jenny about the Team Comet sightings). Mia, with thoughts of unfaithfulness put in her head by Wanda and Sonica's conversation at the start, would find Red with Yellow, and in typical anime fashion attack him without thinking. But I found that as I wrote and reread that part, I seriously didn't like it. It might've been humorous for a moment, but overall it wasn't fitting.


	13. Impact

"Let's see what inside," one brigand, the boss, gets off the jeep and walks over to the armored truck they knocked over. "Looks like the driver's knocked out."

The three thieves opens the truck and finds suitcases. One of them rushes back to the jeep to grab a crowbar.

"Treasure? Rare Pokemon?" another brigand speculates as he lays down one of the cases. "Hurry up Edmond!"

"Hold your Ponytas!" Edmond smashed the lock on the briefcase. The three thieves at the contents.

"Mega Stones and Bracelets?" the second thief observed. "These are worth a fortune!"

"Open another one!" the boss thief orders.

Edmond uses his crowbar to break open the other suitcases and chests, everything contained Mega Stones and Bracelets.

"They're all Mega Stones and Bracelets!"

"No duh Sherlock," the boss insults. "They must've been going to a laboratory or something."

"How much can we sell these for?" Edmond asks.

"Tons," the boss answers. "But why sell them? We can keep them ourselves, we can be unstoppable!"

"But aren't they really really hard to use?" the second thief asks.

"I see some stupid kids use them, how hard can they be?" The boss comments.

Sirens fill the air. A couple patrol vehicles drive into view.

"You jinxed it man!" Edmond screams.

"But how?" the second one asks.

"The driver!" the boss rushes to the front of the truck. He sees the driver, still knocked out but holding an active radio. "Tch."

XXX

* * *

"Is that everything?" Ash asks Anabel as he packs up all the picnic gear.

"This is the last one," Anabel gives Ash the last thing to pack. "We need to do this more often. When you're not busy."

"I'll try to be home more often," Ash responds. "Our commute is really time consuming."

"At least the view is great."

A loud bang catches their attention, as well as several small birds flying away from the source.

"That doesn't sound good," Ash comments. "Anabel, bring everyone home. Come on Pikachu!"

"Be careful."

'You too."

XXX

* * *

"Darn it!" the boss screams as his tire is hit by an Arcanine's flamethrower.

The jeep turns hard and slips onto its side. The three thieves tumble out along with all of the suitcases and Mega Stones and Bracelets.

"The Stones!" the second thief tries to pick them up.

"Just get one and go!" the boss yells as he grabs one of the closed cases and runs.

Edmond grabbed another one and follows.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" A voice yells.

"Piiikaaa-CHUUUU!" An electric attack blasts the ground in front of the boss, stopping the thieves.

"What the-?!" the boss looks in the direction the attack came from. "Some goody two shoes!" He pulls out a Pokeball.

"It can't be, t-that's- what are you doing?!" Edmond yells at his boss puts on a Bracelet.

"Time to see what everyone likes about these things, if stupid kids can use these things then I can too! Come out Scizor!"

"No don't!" Ash tries to warn, but the man's Scizor takes its Mega Stone. "Pikachu! Get ready! It's going to go berserk!"

"It's going to what?!" Edmond yells out, he takes a step away, turns around to see his other partner fighting the patrolmen, then jets off to the side. "I'm getting out of here!"

"Coward!" the boss yells at him.

XXX

* * *

Anabel holds her daughter's hand as Espeon psychically carries their bag.

"Is daddy going to come back soon?"

"He's just checking out something," Anabel answers. "He should be back quickly."

"Pii?" Espeon senses a presence.

"Eevee!" the Eevee barked.

Anabel stood in front of her daughter. "Stay behind me Ione."

The sound rustling of bushes was coming their way, as if in a great hurry. From the foliage emerged a panicked man, holding a suitcase, gasping for breath.

"What are you?!" Anabel asks out.

"No, no, NO!" the man turns to run in another direction.

"Espeon! Stop him!"

"Espii!" Espeon's eyes glow.

The man is psychically lifted off the ground. He struggles to move forward. "Not like this!" He manages to move his fingers to where his Pokeballs were kept. Using what little mobility he had he managed to drop one ball onto the ground, calling out his roaring Pokemon.

"Aggron!" Anabel took a step back. "Ione, get out of here."

"Mom?!"

"Please."

"Eeveeeee!" Eevee nudged the young girl to move away from her mother.

"Aggron!" the man calls out. "Rock Slide!"

"Stop them with Iron Tail!" Anabel calls out.

Espeon drops its psychic hold on the man to attack the flying rocks with its tail. The man falls onto the ground, dropping the suitcase but causing it to open.

"Use Psychic!" Anabel orders.

Espeon's eyes glow, the Aggron is lifted up slightly and pushed backwards, the man moves out of the way before he's toppled over by his Pokemon.

"What are you doing?!" the man berates his Pokemon.

"Zap Cannon!" Anabel tells her Pokemon to attack.

"Autotomize!" the man cries out.

Aggron evades the electric ball by jumping to the side.

"Now Iron Head!"

Using its increased speed Aggron rushes in to hit Espeon hard.

"Espeon!"

"Bury it with Rock Slide!" _I need to find an opening to escape!_

"Use Psychic on the rocks!"

Espeon's psychic powers stop the rocks in mid-air.

"What?!"

"Throw them back!"

"ESPIIIII!" The rocks are launched right back at the Aggron.

The steel Pokemon roars from the pummeling it's receiving.

"Sh-she's strong!" the man takes a step back, his foot bumps the suitcase. He stares at the Mega Stones and the Bracelet. One of the stones is labelled 'Aggronite'.

" _If stupid kids can use these things than I can too!"_

He puts on the Mega Bracelet. "Aggron!" He throws the Aggronite to his Pokemon.

"What are you doing?!" Anabel screams.

"Mega Evolve!"

"Espeon! Zap Cannon!"

Aggron's body glows white. Espeon charges her electrical orb as the steel Pokemon roars out in pain.

XXX

* * *

"AAAH!" Ione bends down, holding her head.

"Vee?!" Eevee runs up to her. Eevee nudges her head.

"It hurts…! My head…! Mom!" Ione stands up and runs back.

XXX

* * *

Espeon fires the Zap Cannon at the glowing Aggron. The evolution energy blocks the attack, the explosion of energy blows away the electric orb.

Anabel and Espeon stand on guard as Mega Aggron howls throughout the forest.

XXX

* * *

Ash and Pikachu turn their heads in the direction of the howl. Behind him is the unconscious Scizor and thief boss.

"Anabel!" Ash runs back into the trees.

XXX

* * *

"Rock Slide now!" Edmond orders.

Mega Aggron's body shines, the shine then breaks off.

"It used Autotomize?"

Mega Aggron dashes forward with incredible speed.

"That's Iron Head!" Anabel notices. "Dodge it!"

Espeon jumps to the side, avoiding the head but Aggron's wide body was too large and too fast to avoid entirely. Espeon manages to land on her feet.

"Counter with Zap Cannon!" Anabel orders.

Espeon creates and fires an electric ball at the Mega Pokemon. The attack hits, but Mega Aggron didn't react to it.

"Use Rock Slide Aggron!" Edmond tries to order.

Mega Aggron Roars again, it charges forward. Its head is glowing again.

"Now Psychic!" Anabel cries out. "And duck!"

Espeon's eyes glow, the incoming steel Pokemon is lifted slightly, carrying all the momentum from its charge and it flies over the small purple Pokemon. Mega Aggron's body crashes through several trees and rips up the ground.

Everyone waits as Mega Aggron lay still for a moment. Then one arm slams the ground, then the other, the large Pokemon picks itself up as its body glows with a metallic sheen.

"It's using Metallic Burst!" Edmond screams.

"What? Espeon get out of there!"

Espeon runs away as quick as it can.

Mega Aggron lets out a massive roar as its body explodes. A large dome of energy rips through the forest. Edmond, Anabel and Espeon are blown back and knocked out.

Ione and Ashana hide behind a tree as a bright light engulfs the area. A thick cloud follows.

"Mom…" Ione whispers. She rushes to where the attack came from with Ashana right behind her. Through the cloud, a thunderous stomping is heard. The earth shakes with each stomp. Ione hides by leaning behind a nearly broken tree.

Edmond, knocked out with his back to a tree, feels the shaking coming closer. He opens his eyes to see Mega Aggron looming over him. Terrified, he froze looking up at the giant steel Pokemon. Mega Aggron slowly raises an arm above Edmond's face.

A loud cracking noise from a falling tree fills the air. Edmond sees Ione and Eevee falling backwards from where the tree had broken. The tree falls down on top of Mega Aggron, its arm inadvertently slashes Edmond's face. Edmond lets out a loud scream. Mega Aggron turns around so fast its tail slams into Edmond's side, breaking his arm. The angry Pokemon charges towards the little girl.

"Veee!" Eevee uses Quick Attack but it's easily knocked aside.

"Sis!" Ione runs over to her fallen Eevee. "Are you okay sis?" Ione holds Eevee tight as the shadow of Mega Aggron draws near.

"Esspiii!" Espeon slams Mega Aggron's face with Iron Tail, momentarily stunning it. "Espi Espi!" Espeon yells as Mega Aggron backhands Espeon!

Ione gets up and runs. Mega Aggron gives pursuit. Its body is slowed down by a Psychic attack, Aggron turns around to see Espeon's glowing eyes. It unleashes a Rock Slide, burying her.

XXX

* * *

"Anabel!" Ash runs over to Anabel's body. "Anabel!"

"Hrgh… Ash?!"

"Are you okay?"

"Pika!" Pikachu cries from a pile of rocks, it uses Iron Tail to blow the rocks away. "Chuuuu…." It cradles Espeon.

"B-... bag…" Anabel weakly points.

Ash brings it over and starts tending to her. Pikachu carries Espeon over right next to her.

"Sitrus Berries… side pocket," Anabel points.

Pikachu pulls out a couple Sitrus Berriers. Espeon's body recovered quickly but gradually while Pikachu helped her onto her feet. Ash wrapped Anabel's wounds.

Elsewhere in the distance, a tree is heard snapping.

"Where's Gale?" Ash asks. "GAAALLLEEE!"

"I told her to run," Anabel answers. "Find her."

"What?"

"I'll be… fine," Anabel tells him. "Find Ione. Hurry. Take Espeon with you."

"I'll be back," Ash gets up and runs through the path of broken down trees.

"I know you will," Anabel smiles.

XXX

* * *

Ione and Eevee hide behind a large tree, scared of the big looming monster that slowly stomps through. The two girls waited, listening, shaking. Ione squeezes Ashana tighter.

The large tree they were hiding behind is suddenly broken down with a powerful iron tail whip. Ione and Eevee turn around and fell back. Mega Aggron looms above them with a menacing glow in its eyes as it readies to attack.

"Sis!" Ione holds Eevee tighter.

Several Beedrill emerge from the fallen tree, they unleash their rage on the Mega Aggron. Most of the attacks were insignificant, while Mega Aggron easily swaps them away.

"Aaaa-aaaa-" with her eyes wide in fear she scrawls backward, then rushes to her feet and runs. "Aaaaaaah!"

Mega Aggron roars and gave chase, but the flurry of Beedrills forced it to stay and fight. It grabbed one of the Beedrill and slams it down on the ground. Ione turns around to see the steel Pokemon easily knocking out the swarm. Then Mega Aggron stomped towards a fallen injured Bedrill, Ione can sense its malicious intent.

"NOOO!" Ione screams. Ashana jumps into the ground digging a hole.

Mega Aggron raised its foot above the injured Beedrill. Eevee emerges from the ground and tackles the raised foot. It was enough to cause Mega Aggron to tumble backwards with an earth shaking landing.

"Sis!" Ione yells.

Eevee quickly runs back to Ione as Mega Aggron gets back up. Its head glows brightly. Ione and Eevee run as fast as they can, Aggron destroys every obstacle as it chases them. Ione and Eevee reach the lakeside. Mega Aggron was breaks through the foliage, not slowing down. Eevee tackles Ione to the side. Mega Aggron crashes into the water. Ione and Ashana pick themselves up as Mega Aggron thrashes about in the water. It eventually manages to stand up straight somehow looking angrier than before. It gives a menacing glare to Ione and Ashana.

Three Gyarados emerged from the lake, also looking angry. Mega Aggron turns around to glare back at them. The Gyrados all charge energy in their mouths. Mega Aggron roars out as the Gyarados all fire Hyper Beam at it. Mega Aggron catches the end of their combined beams, it stands its ground against the three Gyrados. Its body is pushed back, feet tearing up the ground. The Gyrados exhaust their energy, the Hyper Beams fade out. Mega Aggron stands firm, and angry. Its body glows intensely.

Ione embraces Ashana tightly. Mega Aggron unleashes a massive metallic blast around itself. Ione and Ashana were blown away, the Gyrados were knocked back. Ash catches his daughter and turns around, shielding her from the wind blast of the attack.

When everything settled, Ione looks up at her father's face. "Daddy?"

"Are you okay, Gail?" Ash asks her as he lets her down. Pikachu and Espeon gather around.

"I'm fine daddy, but mom-!"

"She's alright, don't worry," Ash tells her.

"Espii!" Espeon affirms.

"Mommy's alright!" Ione smiles at Ashana. Ione looks back at her father smiling happily. She sees something out in the distance, headed towards them. "Daddy!" Ione shoves her father down and shields herself, a flying rock hits her.

"GAAAIIILLL!" Ash screams.

Pikachu and Espeon jump forward to confront what threw that rock, Mega Aggron.

"Pika! Pikapika, Pikachu!"

"Thanks Pikachu," Ash gets up and head over to where Ione's body lay.

"Pika?"

"Espi!"

Mega Aggron charges forward, head shining. Pikachu and Espeon both Quick Attack its shoulders to stun it. They then follow up with Iron Tail to its face.

"Pika pika! CHUUU!" Pikachu throws out Electro Ball.

"Espiiii-on!" Espeon launches Zap Cannon.

Both electric attacks hit Mega Aggron full force. Ash checks on Ione's body as an electric blast erupts behind him.

"Vee…" Ashana worries for her younger sister.

"Gail," Ash turns her on her back. He finds one of her arms bleeding heavily from a huge scar. He frantically searches himself only to find out that he doesn't have any sort of first aid on him. He looks at his hands, at the red on his hands that came from his daughter. "Hmm..." Desperate, Ash held out his hands over Ione's arm. His hands glowed with Aura as he transferred energy onto Ione's wound.

"Eevee?"

"It's okay Ashana," Ash smiles. "I can do this. I have to do this…"

"Veeee…." Ashana had a sad look on her face.

Pikachu and Espeon continue to overwhelm Mega Aggron with their speed. Quick Attacks, Iron Tails, Electro Ball and Zap Cannon. Mega Aggron is wearing down from the barrage of fast and powerful attacks, as well as their unparalleled teamwork. Mega Aggron is brought down to one knee.

"PIKA!"

Espeon nodded, her eyes glow.

"Piiiiikaaaaa CHIUUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu calls down a powerful Thunderbolt.

Espeon psychically catches the Thunderbolt and lets Pikachu pour more power into it, making it grow. The psychic thunder ball matches Mega Aggron's size.

"Essspiiii!" Espeon throws it to the Steel Pokemon.

Mega Aggron gets up to catch it in his hands. Pikachu and Espeon nod at each other.

"PIKA!"

"EON!"

They fire an Electro Ball and Zap Cannon at the thunder orb. The electric sphere slowly engulfs Mega Aggron, overloading it with power. Then the electricity vanishes like a flash into the air. Mega Aggron still stood. Pikachu and Espeon ready themselves for another bout, but the Mega Pokemon fell backwards, devolving back into an Aggron.

"They did it," Ash smiles and breathes a sigh of relief.

Pikachu and Espeon return to his side. They notice him giving Ione his Aura to heal her wound.

"Pika!"

"I'm okay Pikachu, let me do this."

"Chuuuu…"

"Piii?"

"Eeeeee…" Eevee cuddles with her parents.

Ash concentrates on healing Ione's wound. The injury heals quickly but Ash is visibly drained. He pants heavily, his head and hands sweat. The last bit of Ione's wound closes, but leaves a very visible scar on her arm. Ash falls over right next to her.

"Pika!"

The Pokemon surround them, worried.

"I'm okay… I just… need to breathe," Ash tells them.

"Nmm… da…ddy…" Mia mumbles.

Ash feels her hand holding his, he turned his head to see a faint blue glow between them. He could feel his stamina returning. "Gail…" Ash gets up and carries his daughter gently.

XXX

* * *

"Security! A patient's disappeared!" a nurse yells down the hall.

XXX

* * *

"Who the heck are you?" a suspicious man asks the man emerging from the shadows.

"I'm Edmond," the one armed man with a scarred face introduces himself. "I want to join the Team."


	14. Extinction Event

In the dead of night, an airship looms over the hotel.

"So…" Edmond, the leader of Team Comet mumbles. "It's time."

Suddenly the bridge lights turns red.

"Sir we've got incoming!" one of the bridge crew warns. "Seven of them!"

The bridge crew brings up the incoming bogeys on screen. It was Ritchie, Gary, Lance, Winona, Lucian, Kahili and Cynthia on their flying Pokemon.

"They were waiting for us," Edmond mumbles. "No matter. Begin the attack! Get the poison and paralysis turrets up online!"

"Sir, we're detecting strong Pokemon signatures not too far from here," another crewmember tells him. "Their signatures match what we know of the challenger's Pokemon."

"Her Pokemon huh," Edmond repeats. "They'll be a nuisance. Have a unit ready to attack them, I will make sure they don't interfere."

"Sir?" the second in command questions as the boss moves to leave the bridge. "But what about-?"

"Everyone else will proceed as planned!" he orders. "Get those rare and powerful Pokemon, and show our power to the world by crushing anyone that stands in your way! That girl and her Pokemon are mine." Edmond mumbles under his breath.

Several Team Comet grunts jump out of the ship, open their parachutes and toss out their Pokeballs. The ranch housing Mia's Pokemon is hit by a barrage of attacks, destroying the walls and the roof. Through the smoke all of Mia's Pokemon jump out to counterattack.

Several grunts make their way into the hotel as an aerial battle with the Champions and Elite Four ensue.

XXX

* * *

Mia suddenly gets up from hearing a lot of noise. "W-what's going on?!"

"Jol!"

Mia looks out the window to see a flurry of attacks flying about. Mia quickly rushes to the door, Jolteon pulls her leg before she could walk out onto the hallway. Streams of flame, water and leaves fly by. Mia carefully poked her head out the door where the attacks came from. Lyra, Meganium, May, Blaziken, Dawn and Empoleon were standing together.

"Mia!" Dawn calls. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Mia steps out. "What's happening?"

"Look," Lyra points to a group of Team Comet grunts and fainted Pokemon.

"Team Comet?"

"They must be after something," May suggests.

"Ahahahaha!" They hear laughter down the halls.

"I know those voices," Mia mutters.

Three shadowy figures emerge from the darkness.

"Prepare for-"

"Sis! Thunderbolt!"

"WAAH!" The Comet trio all avoid the attack.

"What's the big idea?!" Jane shouts out.

"I don't have time for you guys!"

"Don't have time for us?" Jetson asks. "Listen, we've been waiting for this moment for a long time. With the entirety of Team Comet here, all of your unusually powerful Pokemon will finally be ours!"

"We'll take care of them," Dawn says as she, May and Lyra step forward.

"I'd like to see you try!" Psyduck taunts.

"Blaziken!" "Empoleon!" "Megaium!"

"TRIPLE FINISH!"

The combination of fire, water and grass powers rocket down the halls. Team Comet is too stunned by the display of power to move and simply cowered together. An explosion occurs on the side of the building, launching the three of them into the sky.

"Looks like we're blasting off again!"

Mia, May, Dawn and Lyra watch them fly off in the distance.

"Let's meet up with the others," May tells them.

"Where?" Mia asks.

"I saw Gary, Lance, Cynthia and Ritchie head out back earlier," Lyra tells them. "We can start there."

A bright light shone into the hallway through Mia's window from outside the hotel.

"Sunny Day," Dawn recognizes the light. "They're signaling us! Let's go!"

XXX

* * *

"There's the Diancie, Shaymin and Latias!" a grunt yells. "Get them!" Team Comet's army of Pokemon charge down the hall to Sonica, Melody holding Shaymin and the two Biancas.

Diancie and Latias step forward, Meloetta appears between them while Latis dissolves her illusion. Diancie creates and launches Stone Edge, Latias fires Dragon Pulse, Meloetta sings her Relic Song.

Team Comet's Pokemon, and Team Comet themselves, are knocked out.

"We need to find the others," Bianca suggests.

"Everyone should be fine," Sonica tells her. "They're all strong trainers. We just need to find a way to meet up. Are you going to be fine in your Pirouette Forme?"

"Melo!" Meloetta nods.

"Alright," Sonica swings her guitar over her back.

"Should you really be taking that?" Melody asks.

"It's very important to me," Sonica answers.

"Are you alright Shaymin?" Diancie asks the small bundle of leaves.

"I'm okay," Shaymin answers. "I'm sorry, I can't really do anything at night."

"Don't worry," Diancies smiles. "I'll protect you."

Shaymin turns red.

A bright light fills the hall, the three of them and the Pokemon with them all head to where the light is shining from.

XXX

* * *

"Air Cutter!" Wanda orders Altaria.

"Shadow Ball!" Shantaul calls to her Chandelure.

"Flamethrower!" Serena commands Delphox.

The three attacks tear through Team Comet.

"I'd like to know what made them think they can just come in and attack like this," Shauntal speaks out.

"I'm worried about the others," Wanda tells them.

"Believe in them," Serena comforts her. "Right now all we do is figure out where to go. Are you really writing at a time like this?"

"I'm just jotting notes," Shauntal answers.

At that time, a bright light fills the hotel. They understand that it's a signal of some sort and nod at each other thinking the exact same thing. The three of them head towards it.

XXX

* * *

"Look out!" Bugsy has his Scizor stop an attack thrown at Skyla.

"Thanks Bugsy!" Skyla waves.

"Don't let your guard down," Elesa tells her. "We need to break through here and meet up with Kahili."

"Guys!" Red and Yellow met up with them. "Is everybody okay?"

"Yeah," Bugsy answers. "We got the last of the employees out. I'm about to meet my sister."

"We're clear on our end too," Red responds. "It should be just us now."

The group hears more footsteps approaching. The group is surrounded with more Team Comet grunts.

"There's no end to them," Skyla complains.

XXX

* * *

"Ritchie!" Mia calls out with Ashana, May, Dawn and Lyra behind her.

"Mia, you're here!" Ritchie replies.

"What the heck happened here?" May asks, looking at the bunch of knocked out Team Comet grunts, their Pokemon, and a crashed airship.

"Their airship had a paralyzing and poison guns," Gary explains. "All of our Pokemon are paralyzed or poisoned now but we managed to take it down."

"Uncle! Auntie!" Mia calls out.

"Good, you're alright," Winona sighs of relief.

"Why are you all here?" Lyra asks. "It's like you were waiting for them."

"The Association warned us that they might make a move," Kahili answers. "We weren't expecting anything like this though."

"Where are the others?" Lucian asks.

"Heeeey!" Sonica cries out with Melody, Shaymin, Bianca, Meloetta, Latias and Diancie.

"Sonica!" Mia greets.

"Good there's more of us," Lance says. "There's still more Team Comet members to worry about."

"My Pokemon!" Mia looks into the distance, where attacks still fill the air. "I need to help them!"

"Not yet," Lance places a hand on her shoulder. "Look, they're coming."

Everyone notices a large group of Team Comet grunts emerging from the airship.

"This is going to make for one heck of a story," Shuantal says as she sees the incoming crowd.

"Shauntal!" Mia cries out. "Serena! Wanda!"

"We came as fast as we could," Wanda tells her. "What are we going to do?"

"This should be enough," Lance tells them. "Listen, we'll charge through them and make a break for Mia's Pokemon."

"But your Pokemon are paralyzed and poisoned," Mia reminds him.

"Never mind that," Lance replies. "What's important is that we save your friends. Sonica, Wanda, we'll leave Mia to you."

"Right!" the two girls nodded.

"Lati, please help them however you can," Bianca with her partner. Latias nodded.

"We'll stay here and inform anybody else that comes out," Melody tells them.

"Thank you, everyone." Mia thanks them all. They just smile back.

"Let's move!" Lance leads the charge.

The group races forward, the Team Comet army speeds up as well. Lance, Cynthia, Ritchie, Lucian, Winona, Gary and Kahili lead the group, holding their Pokeballs in hand.

"Get ready Mia!" Lucian warns.

"Let's go everyone!" Lance calls out.

The seven trainers in front unleash all of their Pokemon as Team Comet's Pokemon fills up the field. Everyone but Mia, Sonica and Wanda unload theirs.

XXX

* * *

"Boss!" One of the men attacking Mia's Pokemon points to the field.

Team Comet's boss turns to the field. He sees a group of trainers plowing through his men and his Pokemon. In particular he sees a certain purple haired trainer with a Jolteon. He reaches for his communicator.

"Release it," he orders, then turns to the men that are with him. "All forces, stop them." He commands his troops. "I'll deal with these nuisances."

"But sir, they're a lot more powerful than we estimated."

"Hmph," the leader rips off the sleeve of his mechanical arm revealing a solid metal prosthesis imbedded with Key Stones and a mysterious orb. "I gave you an order."

"Y-yes sir!"

The rest of Team Comet go to intercept Mia, Wanda and Sonica. The leader pulls out his Pokeballs calling forth Medicham, Swampert, Pidgeot, Aerodactyl and Ampharos.

Mia's Pokemon, injured but still capable of fighting readied themselves.

"Now…" the leader turns on a switch on his arm, the Key stones and the strange orb begin to glow.

"What's that?" Mia notices several bright glowing lights surrounding her Pokemon.

"I don't know but it can't be good," Sonica responds. "We've got incoming!"

"Come out everyone!" Wanda calls forth her Pokemon.

"Stay back Meloetta, time for my other Pokemon to take the stage!" Sonica throws out her Pokeballs.

Wanda's Altaria, Staraptor, Swellow, Togekiss, Dragonite and Swanna attacks one side of the incoming mooks. Sonica's Bisharp, Zebstrika, Primarina, Ribombee, Sylveon, and Lurantis attack the other side.

"Ribombee, Dazzling Gleam!"

"Swanna, Surf!"

Ribombee and Swanna unleash their attacks in front of Mia, clearing the way for her.

"We got things covered here!" Sonica tells Mia. "GO!"

Mia sees her Pokemon fighting hard against that one man, the man that can somehow command several Mega Evolution Pokemon at once.

"Ampharos, entertain her," the man orders.

Mega Ampharos takes a massive leap towards Mia, it fires a Dragon Pulse before landing.

"Sis!" Mia calls to her sister.

"Joltiiii on!" Jolteon fires a Thunderbolt at the power ball. Ampharos' Dragon Pulse just eats through it.

Another Dragon Pulse flies in and knocks Ampharos' Dragon Pulse away. The two attacks swerve and explode in the distance. Latias makes herself visible beside Mia.

"Latias…" Mia looks at the Pokemon in surprise.

Latias meets her gaze, smiles and nods.

"Let's go Sis!" Mia rushes go around Mega Ampharos.

Mega Ampharos keeps an eye on them and readies to attack with an electric blast. Latias fires a Dragon Pulse at Ampharos. The Mega Pokemon is covered in dirt clouds. Mia and Ashana keep running. Mega Ampharos jumps out of the clouds towards the two of them with its tail glowing. Latias uses Psychic to pull Mia back as Ashana ducks the Dragon Tail.

Jolteon tries to use Thunderbolt on Ampharos. Ampharos powered through it and tried to Fire Punch the smaller mon.

"Sis!" Mia calls out. "Get to the others! I'll be right there!"

Ashana acknowledged, then runs off. Ampharos tries to attack Jolteon again, but its body is stopped by a Psychic attack. Ampharos' eyes glow and a large sphere of electricity erupts from its body. Latias flies in front of Mia to shield her but the two of them were blown back. They pick themselves up to see Mega Ampharos standing before them.

XXX

* * *

"I think they're losing steam," Gary observes.

"So we're heading in," Kahili comments.

"Stay sharp everyone," Cynthia warns. "They wouldn't make this attack without planning something."

"I thought the airship's guns was the plan," May asks.

"In an attack this massive," Lance explains. "No one's going to have only one plan."

Within the crashed airship, inside a hidden laboratory, in a large tank of water, eyes glowed.

XXX

* * *

"Ahhh!" A bunch of Team Comet grunts fly out of one of the hotel's doors.

Melody, Bianca and Shyamin ready themselves for a confrontation. Then an electric blast flies out of the door along with several Pokemon. All of Team Comet and their Pokemon are knocked out. Elesa, Skyla, Bugsy, Red and Yellow emerge from the door with two Pikachus, a Zebstrika, Scizor and Swanna.

"You guys!" Melody greets them, waving her arm.

"Melody, Bianca!" Yellow greets back. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Bianca answers. "I was really worried for a moment."

"It looks like everyone else is over there," Red notices the war zone. "We should help them out."

"Wait," Yellow stops him. "There might still be Team Comet members in the hotel." Yellow looks over at Melody and Bianca.

"Don't worry about us," Melody reassures her. "We can take care of ourselves. We've got Shaymin."

"Wait what?!" Shaymin reacted in surprise. "I can't really fight like this."

"Oh I can just toss you to them and make a run for it."

"Melody!" Shaymin whined.

"I'm kidding I'm kidding," Melody laughs.

"I'll stay here with them," Yellow volunteers. "You can-"

A portion of the airship explodes, a large winged Pokemon flies out of the debris.

"What is that?" Elesa asks. "Is it a flying type?"

"I've never seen anything like it," Skyla responds. "It's too dark, I can't make out the details."

The large flying Pokemon dives down and begins attacking their friends and Team Comet.

"Whatever it is its going crazy!" Red observes. "I'm going ahead."

"Wait for us!" Skyla calls out. Her, Elesa and Bugsy follow him.

A large ball of energy flies up into the sky, it illuminates the area and reveals the Pokemon, covered in machines.

"That's-!" Melody's shock caused her to step back and nearly drop Shaymin.

"What is that?" Bianca asks.

"It's a Lugia," Yellow answers. "A very rare, very powerful Pokemon. I've only seen pictures, but those machines look like what we found from one of Team Rocket's hideouts. Team Comet must've captured the Lugia somehow and experimented on it."

"Now it's free and angry," Melody says. "It's attacking everyone. Bianca, hold Shyamin. I need to get something."

"Melody?" Bianca takes Shaymin and sees Melody rush into the hotel. "Where are you going?"

"My room!" Melody answers.

"Wait!" Yellow follows. "It's too dangerous to go alone, I'll go with you. Bianca, you should find a place to hide."

XXX

* * *

"Darn!" Gary calls back Electivire. "The poison got to him. I'm out of Pokemon."

"Return," Cynthia recalls her Garchomp. "You did good. Our numbers are dangerously low."

"The same could be said about Team Comet," Lance says as Dragonite fires an Ice beam into a group of Pokemon, knocking them and their trainers out. "How are you guys?"

May's Blaziken, Dawn's Empoleon and Lyra's Meganium perform a Triple Finish on another group.

"We're almost done here," May informs. "We just need to stop-"

Lugia screeches in the sky above them.

"It's coming!" Lyra yells.

"Dragonite! Draco Meteor!" Lance orders.

Dragonite readies its attack, but the paralysis stunned him. Lugia fires a Hydro Pump, knocking out Dragonite.

"Dragonite!" Lance calls out, he recalls his Pokemon back into its ball. "Take a rest."

"Lance!" Shauntal calls out. "I don't think we can fight Lugia and Team Comet at the same time like this!"

Lance turns to May, Dawn and Lyra. "We'll leave Lugia to you. Everyone else, protect us from Team Comet as best as you can."

"You got it," Serena stands beside the former Champions with Diancie. There is a shine on her wrist, a Keystone.

"I won't let anyone hurt my friends," Diancie declares as she glows.

"Cover me!" Lyra cries out to May and Dawn. "Meganium! Solar Beam!"

Lugia notices the grass type charging up, it starts diving fast.

"Empoleon! Hydro Pump!"

Emopleon fires a torrent of water, Lugia just barely dodges getting hit by it.

"Blaziken! Sky Uppercut!"

Blaziken rockets upwards with its fist hitting Lugia's torso.

"Meganium! Fire!"

Meganium launches a powerful beam into the sky, it engulfs Lugia before exploding.

"Did it work?" Lyra looks closely.

Lugia blows the smoke away with a flap of its wings. It's building up energy in its mouth.

"Oh no!" Dawn follows Lugia's line of sight, their Pokemon.

Lugia unleashes a powerful Aeroblast.

"Counter!" May cries out. Blaziken, Meganium and Empoleon all fire their long range attacks.

The attacks crash against each other. Blaziken, Meganium and Empoleon all stand their ground as the energies push them back. The machinery on Lugia lights up, Lugia unleashes another attack, bigger than before. The three Pokemon are overwhelmed by the blast and are blown away.

"Meganium!"

"Empoleon!"

"Blaziken!"

The three trainers rush to their Pokemon, Lugia's body glows white as it observes the three trainers caring for their Pokemon. It then dives to hit them all with Dragon Rush.

"Pikiapikapikapikapika CHU!" Red's Pikachu Volt Tackle's Lugia head on, stopping its attack.

"Good going Pika!" Red praised.

"Our turn!" Skyla announces as she swoops in on her Swanna. "Ice Beam!"

Swanna's Ice Beam freezes the machinery around Lugia's torso.

"Bullet Punch!" Bugsy calls out, riding on the back of Scizor.

Scizor hits Lugia in the chest rapidly. The ice shatters and the machine cracks.

Elesa gets off of her Zebstrika. "Is everyone alright?" She starts helping Dawn, May and Lyra care for their Pokemon.

Lugia flies back a bit. Skyla and Bugsy pursue while Red chases on the ground.

"Swanna, Tailwind!" Skyla orders.

"Scizor, Swords Dance!" Bugsy cries.

Scizor's body glows with power as a wind blows through the four of them.

"Let's fly!" Skyla rides forward.

"Right behind you!"

The increased speed of Swanna and Scizor allowed them to close in on Lugia from different sides.

"Scald!" Skyla commands.

Lugia blocks the beam with an armored wing. The heat from the hot water warms the mechanical parts.

"Acrobatics!" Scizor dashes in, covered in energy. It tackles Lugia from behind.

Lugia swats Scizor away with a wing, the mythical Pokemon fires a Hydro Pump after it. Scizor dodges with ease.

"Ice Beam!" Skyla calls out. Her Swanna freezes the same wing she hit with Scald earlier. "Now!"

"Pika! Thunder!"

"PikaaaCHUUUUUU!" Pika's Thunder comes down hard on Lugia.

The legendary Pokemon's whole body trembles from the shock, the armor on its arm shatters.

"Alright!" Red cheers. "Just keep it up!"

Lugia flies out and looks back at Elesa, Bugsy and Red.

XXX

* * *

"Found you!" a couple Team Comet grunts find Bianca holding Shaymin.

"Stay away from her!" Shaymin jumps down in front of them.

"Shaymin!"

"You want to fight?" one of the grunts pulls out a Pokeball. "Skuntank! Acid Spray!"

The grunt's Skuntank sprays acid all over Shaymin.

"Shaymin!" Bianca calls out in worry.

Shaymin's body cleanses itself from the poison. Its leaves glow brightly.

"What the heck!?" the other grunt cried out trying to block the light.

Shaymin explodes with a brilliant display of light. The two grunts and their Pokemon are knocked out. Bianca looks up to see Shaymin alright and turning around smiling.

"Bianca!" Melody runs out of the hotel with Yellow. "We heard something. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Shaymin protected me," Bianca answers as she picks up Shaymin. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yes," Melody hold up her ocarina. "I just need to get close enough."

"I can help with that," Yellow states, she pulls out a Pokeball. "Kitty!" Butterfree pops open from the Pokeball. "Help Melody get up there." The Buttterfree nodded, then it hovered behind Melody. "I'll stay here and protect Bianca and Shaymin."

"Thanks," Melody thanks her before lifting off.

XXX

* * *

"Bullet Punch!" Bugsy calls out to Scizor. The red and black Pokemon dashes to destroy the other wing's armor.

"Just one more!" Skyla cries out. "We can do this!"

The last remaining armor piece is the helmet. Lugia raises rocks from the ground and swirls them around itself.

"That's Ancient Power!" Red cries out.

The rocks spin around quickly and randomly. Three rotating rings of spinning rocks surround Lugia. Bugsy and Skyla have difficulty getting close.

"Swanna!" Skyla readies for something. "Blow them away with Hurricane!"

Swanna unleashes a powerful gust of wind against Lugia's rings of rocks. Lugia turns to Swanna and Skyla. Lugia launches all the floating rocks in their direction. Swanna swiftly doges and rolls the barrage of rocks. Lugia gathers energy in its mouth.

"Skyla!" Bugsy yells.

Skyla notices the bright light in front of Lugia, but Swanna's too busy dodging the rocks. Lugia fires a massive Aeroblast at them.

"Dive!" Skyla commands. Swanna closes its wings and heads downwards. Lugia's attack didn't hit, but the wind blast knocks them around. Skyla falls off of Swanna.

"Skyla!" Bugsy and Scizor dive down after her, Busgy pulls out a Pokeball. "Ariados! Sticky Web!" Ariados pops out riding Scizor, Bugsy jumps down after Skyla. Ariados fires a web on Bugsy's back as he falls. Skyla stretches her hand out. Bugsy reaches out. The two grab each other's hands. Bugsy pulls Skyla in towards himself.

"Gotcha!" Bugsy smiles. He turns back to his Pokemon. "Now level out!"

Scizor stops diving and starts to fly straight. Bugsy and Skyla swing on the web. Lugia fires a Hydro Pump at Scizor and Ariados. The Pokemon are knocked out of the sky. Bugsy and Skyla free fall towards the ground. Bugsy turns his body to hit the ground first.

The two of them hit a large, round and soft object. They bounce off of it and hit the ground with Bugsy landing first.

"Argh!" he cries out.

"Bugsy!" Skyla calls out as she got up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Bugsy laughs a bit. "Much better than I thought I'd be. What did we land o-OW!?"

Bugsy tried to get up but pain flowed through his arm.

"Hey, take it easy!" Skyla rushes to his side.

Bugsy looks up to see a Snorlax stand up from where they landed. "A Snorlax?"

"Sorry," Red apologized. "It's all I could think of."

"You saved us, thanks," Bugsy tells him.

"It's not over yet," Red turns in the direction of Lugia as it comes down in front of them.

Red's Pikachu sparks up.

A melody starts filling the air. Everyone pauses for a moment to hear it.

"That's…" Ritchie mutters.

Everybody turns to the source of the sound. Melody is hovering in the air with Yellow's Butterfree, playing her ocarina. Lugia turns slightly to see her. The machinery in its helmet activates again, causing pain.

"That's not good," Red says.

Lugia gathers energy in its mouth.

"Thunder!" Red calls out to his Pokemon.

Pika unleashes an attack that hits Lugia, the large Pokemon's attack flies by Melody. Melody keeps playing the song. Lugia fires Hydro Pump at Pika, blowing him back, then turns to Melody again. The machine lights up and Lugia roars.

"We need to destroy that helmet!" Red cries out. "You okay buddy?"

"Pika!" Pika confirms.

"I have an idea," Red tells him while looking up at his Snorlax.

"Skyla!" Kahili calls. "Catch!"

Skyla catches what Kahili tossed. "A Z-Ring and Flynium Z." She looks up at Kahili, who gives an acknowledging nod. Skyla puts on the Z-Ring. "Braviary!" Skyla calls out her Pokemon. She proceeds to stretch a bit.

Lugia begins charging again.

"Now's our chance!" Red yells at his two Pokemon. "Use Volt Tackle and Hyper Beam!"

"Braviary!" Skyla calls out, performing the necessary motions. "Supersonic Skystrike!"

Red's Pika charged forward full throttle covered in electricity. Lugia turns towards the attacking Pokemon, ready to fire. Snorlax fires Hyper Beam beside Pika. Pika jumps on top of Hyper Beam and runs on top while being accelerated by it. Lugia fires its attack, it intercepts Hyper Beam but Volt Tackle pushes it back. Lugia flies upwards to avoid the combined attack. Braviary dives down on top of it with powerful force. The two fliers crash down onto the ground hard. Lugia's mechanical helmet shatters into pieces.

Everyone waits for Lugia to get up as Melody continues playing the song. Lugia roars out loud but Butterfree hovers Melody closer to it while she still plays. Lugia glares at Melody while listening to the song.

"Melody!" Ritchie cries out, he tries to run towards her but Lance stops him.

Melody keeps playing the song in front of Lugia. Lugia whines loudly before dropping its head, exhausted. Melody keeps playing while Butterfree gently lowers to the ground. Melody walks forward slowly as the song ends. Lugia's eyes close slowly and silently, tears rolling out of its eyelids. Melody kneels down in front it and pets it gently.

"Looks like it's over," Bugsy comments.

"Yeah," Skyla sits down next to him. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm' okay," Bugsy answers. "I can't really move just yet." He says holding his arm."

"You're really crazy, you know that?"

"I get that a lot…" Bugsy giggles. "When it comes to bugs."

Skyla chuckles a little.

"Hey," Red interrupts. "Time for clean up."

The remaining Team Comet grunts and their Pokemon surround Melody and Lugia. They are bombarded by crystals and gems. Serena stands confidently with Mega Diancie as the last of the grunts fall.

A bright flash lights the area from some distance away.

"Mary…" Lucian worries.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Whoo boy, his was one heck of a chapter. It could've easily have been two separate chapters but I didn't want to drag out this... arc.


	15. Resolution

" _Get away from them_!" Jolteon jumps into the air and fires Pin Missiles in all directions, hitting the Mega Pokemon.

The Megas were stunned long enough to allow Jolteon to race towards Mia's Pokemon.

" _Arcanine! Is everyone alright?"_

" _Ashana… I'm sorry."_

Jolteon takes a quick look at the Pokemon, half of which are knocked out, the other half are worn and weakened from battle _. "You did the best you can, that's all we could've asked for."_

" _Where's Mia?"_

" _She sent me ahead. Everyone! Combine your attacks!"_

Whatever Pokemon could still move fired off their ranged attacks to push back the Mega Pokemon. The attacking Pokemon are covered in explosions and clouds.

" _Who can still fight?"_ Jolteon asks out loud.

Darmanitan, Honchkrow, Absol, Rhyperior, Braviary, Skarmory, Nidoking, Crobat, Lilligant, Rampardos, Milotic, Drapion, Golurk and Flygon gather around.

"… _Arcanine, Absol, Skarmory, Lilligant, Drapion, stay here with me. Everyone else, do what you can."_

" _What?!"_ Absol cries angrily. _"We need to attack them together and finish them off as soon as we can!"_

" _There's only four of them!"_ Skarmory informs. _"We can take em!"_

" _That's why,"_ Jolteon tells them.

" _What are you talking about?"_ Absol asks.

" _Those four are really strong,"_ Lilligant begins.

" _And he only sent one after Mia,"_ Drapion continues. _"That means he has one more left."_

" _And we still need to protect everyone else,"_ Arcanine motions to their wounded comrades. _"If that last Pokemon is his trump card, we'll need all the strength we have left to fight it."_

" _Fine,"_ Absol scoffs. _"I'll rest."_

" _You guys better last long enough to make it worthwhile,"_ Skarmory address the others.

" _Just you watch!"_ Rhyperior roars. _"We'll beat them without you guys! YEAH!"_

" _I'm know I'm asking a lot of you,"_ Jolteon turns to the other Pokemon.

" _Hey, no problem,"_ Darmanitan laughs.

" _Leave it to us!"_ Flygon adds.

The attacking Mega Pokemon all emerge from the dust clouds.

" _Do your best,"_ Jolteon prays.

Darmanitan, Honchkrow, Rhyperior, Braviary, Nidoking, Crobat, Rampardos, Milotic, Golurk and Flygon all charge the Mega Pokemon.

" _DORIYAAAA!"_ Darmanitan's fist collided with Mega Swampert's. They begin rapid punching each other. _"Oraoraoraoraora!"_

Rampardos rockets out of the ground between them with its head ramming Swampert. Mega Medicham High Jump Kicks the rock dinosaur as it lands. Darmanitan throws a Fire Punch. Medicham counters with Thunder Punch, Nidoking comes in with Megahorn, Medicham throws Darmanitan into the attack then Focus Blasts both of them. Rhyperior rams Medicham with Drill Run. The Psychic Pokemon is thrown back. Mega Swampert Take Down's Rhyperior to the ground, climbs on top then readies its Hammer Arm. Swampert's arm is stopped by Golurk. Using his other arm Swampert uses Waterfall, but Golurk disappears. Mega Swampert is hit with Phantom Force. Medicham jumps onto Golurk's chest then Zen Headbutts the great ghost. Medicham stands beside Swampert as their opponents get up around them.

Mega Pidgeot uses Hurricane to blow back the incoming Honchkrow, Braviary, Crobat and Flygon. Mega Aerodactyl throws Rock Slide into the wind to bombard the opposing birds. Aerodactyl is blasted by a Hydro Pump from below. Milotic fired another blast of water at Mega Pidgeot. The brown bird swerved out of the day then dived to Milotic's level. Pidgeot used its own Hydro Pump on Milotic. Braviary hits Pidgeot with Aerial Ace, Pidgeot tries to Quick Attack but is Sucker Punched by Honchkrow.

Crobat bombards Mega Aerodactyl with Aerial Ace, Aerodactyl Crunch's Crobat's wing. Flygon Dragon Claw's Aerodactyl's face. Flygon lets out a Screech. Crobat follows up with U-Turn, then Flygon flies in with Dragon Claw ready. Aerodactyl clashes with Steel Wing, then it Crunches down on Flygon's neck. Crobat attacks with Aerial Ace, it gets clotheslined by Steel Wing. Turning back, Crobat sees Mega Aerodactyl, with Flygon in its mouth, flying into him with Giga Impact. The collision creates a cloud in the air, Flygon and Crobat fall to the ground.

Mega Pidgeot blows back Honchkrow and Braviary with Hurricane. Honchkrow throws a Dark Pulse into the Mega Pokemon. From the cloud Pidgeot throws a Dark Pulse back. Pidgeot evades a Hydro Pump from below, then dives into a Quick Attack hitting Milotic. Honchkrow and Braviary follow it as fast as they could. The two of them are bombarded by Rock Slide and hit the ground. Milotic, Crobat and Flygon gather around them. Mia's Pokemon see Mega Pidgeot and Mega Aerodactyl hovering together.

While they battled, Ashana glared at their trainer.

" _Do you know him?"_ Arcanine asks.

" _No,"_ Jolteon answers. _"But I have this disturbing feeling that I should."_

XXX

* * *

Latias and Mia dodge aside as a Dragon Pulse flies between them. Latias covers its head in psychic energy then charges forward. Ampharos' fist ignites and it swings it into the charging Latias. Latias launches a Dragon Pulse close range, Ampharos knocks it away with Dragon Tail. The Pokemon sparks heavily and Discharges electricity everywhere. Latias is blown back a bit before recovering.

"Latias!" Mia rushes to her side. "Are you okay?"

Latias whines and nods.

"Let's do this, together."

Latias nods and hovers ahead of her. Mega Ampharos runs towards them full speed.

"Use Psychic to stop it!" Mia commands.

Ampharos' body slows down from the effects of Psychic. The electric Pokemon resists as much as it could. It takes a step, then another.

"No way…"

Ampharos creates a ball of energy. The Mega Pokemon fires it at the dragon.

"Dodge!"

Latias breaks her Psychic to evade the Dragon Pulse. Ampharos jumps up above Latias, it slams its Dragon Tail down on her.

"Latias!" Mia cries.

Latias blasts Mega Ampharos off with a Dragon Pulse. The explosion separates the two of them.

"Circle around!"

Latias flies in circles around Ampharos. The electric sheep tries to keep up with Latias' speed, its body sparks up.

"Get away!"

Ampharos explodes as Latias flies out of the explosion's range.

"Zen Headbutt!"

When the explosion dissipates, Latias flies in covered in Psychic energy. Mega Ampharos is pounded in all directions by Latias. Ampharos' tail glows brightly.

"Spin and dodge!"

Latias twisted her body above the swinging tail and tackled Ampharos again.

"Dragon Pulse!"

Latias fires an energy blast at Ampharos. Ampharos emerges from the cloud Fire Punching Latias in the face. Ampharos quickly followed up with a Dragon Tail, knocking her down to the ground.

"Latias move!"

Latias sees Ampharos about to land on her. Latias barely moved out of the way in time, Ampharos landed right next to her, all sparkly.

"Psychic! Quick!"

Latias halts Ampharos' movements, but the electric Pokemon struggles against the attack. Its body sparks up more and more.

"Get out of there!"

Latias hovers back while trying to maintain her hold. Ampharos' body practically glows with both electric and psychic energy. Ampharos lets out all of its gathered electricity, engulfing Latias. The blast is bigger and more powerful than before.

"Latias!" Mia cries out.

The electric blast disappears, all Mia could see was Ampharos standing triumphantly over Latias' unmoving body. The electric Pokemon panted heavily. Ampharos notices Mia and remembered its original order. The Pokemon tries to gather energy for a Dragon Pulse, but after a few seconds of struggling the energy orb fizzled out. Breathing hard, Ampharos walks closer to Mia, speeding up with each step. Mia is too shocked at Latias' loss to move. Ampharos speeds up even more, eventually running towards the trainer, with its fist ignited in flame.

Mia stepped back once in fear, she breathed hard for a couple breathes. Then charged forward with her full strength. Mia's body is covered in Psychic energy, Ampharos swung its fist. Mia jumps as hard as she could, flying right over Ampharos and its attack. Ampharos turns around stunned and surprised. Mia lands low, flat on her stomach. Confused, Ampharos tries to figure out what just happened. A glow catches its eye, it was a Dragon Pulse flying its way.

The Dragon Pulse explodes on Ampharos' face, the electric Pokemon flies into the air and crashes hard onto the ground. Mia waits for a few moments to see if there's any movement, she sees Mega Ampharos reverting to Ampharos, then rushes over to the weakened Latias.

"Latias," Mia kneels down next to the injured Pokemon.

Latias cries weakly.

Mia checks her person for anything she can use, but found nothing. Latias nudges Mia softly.

"Hey…" Mia holds Latias' face gently. She notices that Latias is transferring energy to her hands. "What, what are you doing?"

Latias moans softly again.

"This is… Healing Wish," Mia observes the light in her hands. "Latias!"

Latias gives a last whine before laying down.

"Thank you," Mia gets up slowly then turns to rejoin with her sister.

XXX

* * *

All of Mia's Pokemon that were fighting are blown back besides Ashana and her group. Mega Pidgeot, Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Medicham and Mega Swampert all stand before them.

Ashana grits her teeth, the group she selected had recovered somewhat, but not enough to battle the four Mega Evolution Pokemon, even if they are weakened.

"SIS!" Mia runs up between her Pokemon and the Mega Pokemon.

"I'm surprised you arrived so quickly," Team Comet's leader tells her. "I was hoping you'd arrive too late, just like your father."

"How do you know my father?" Mia asks.

"We've never actually met, but you and I have... Gale."

Mia's foot slid back slightly. "How do you know that name?!"

"Don't you remember?"

"No."

"Then I'll introduce myself. I am Edmond, and you did this to me." Edmond points to his heavily scarred face and metal prosthetic arm.

"What? When?"

"You really don't remember. Hehehehe, hahahahaha! All these years planning for revenge and you don't even remember me! Hahahahaha!"

Mia stands firm as the man laughs maniacally.

"Hahahahehehe… Right, we barely even saw each other, but there is someone here that you should remember." Edmond takes out his last Pokeball.

The Pokemon that comes out lets out a deafening roar. Mia and Ashana remember that noise from years ago, their eyes widen. Aggron stops howling enough to see Mia and Ashana, then howls in their direction, they could almost feel the roar.

"That's what I want to see," Edmond reveals a Key stone hanging around his neck. "I'm going to hurt you a lot more then you've hurt me. Aggron, Mega Evolution!"

Aggron's body shines, then Mega Aggron emerges. Mia and Ashana stand there, fear stricken.

"Once again, you're all alone. And your father isn't here to save you this time. Mega Aggron! Attack!"

Mega Aggron charges forward full blast. Ashana barks out to Mia, but she doesn't respond, Mia instinctively takes a step back. Ashana barks at the other Pokemon. They all jumped forward and fired their long range attacks. Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Air Slash, Dark Pulse and Energy Ball fly. Mega Aggron plows through them all unscathed.

Mia sees Mega Aggron charging at her. Then the shadowy image of Ash protecting her.

"Da…ddy?"

The image dissolves and Mia sees all her Pokemon form a wall in front of her with Mega Aggron thundering towards them.

"NO!"

Mega Aggron is hit with a Dragon Pulse strong enough to stop it and stumble back. Then Meloetta in her Pirouette form appears and Close Combat's the large Steel Pokemon, pushing it further back. Wanda's Mega Altaria lands next to Mia as Sonica and Wanda get off and rushes up to her.

"Mia!" Sonica shouted. "Are you okay?"

"I… I…"

"What's wrong Mia?" Wanda asks.

"Wh-why is your arm glowing?" Sonica nervously asks.

Mia nervously looks at her glowing scar on her arm, she tries to cover it with her other hand. Her arms shake violently.

"I've never seen Mia like this before," Wanda states.

"Me too," Sonica mentions.

"How did you get past my elites so quickly?" Edmond asks.

"Elites?" Sonica scoffs. "Your mooks need to start thinking about carrying more than three Pokemon. Our other Pokemon are still fighting them, and we know they can handle those goons. We just saw our friend in trouble and rushed over here."

"Touching," Edmond interrupts. "But what can just two more Pokemon do against all of mine?"

"How are you able to Mega Evolve all of them anyway?" Wanda asks.

He raises his prosthetic arm, showing off the mysterious orb. "With this, the Adamant Orb."

"The Adamant what now?" Sonica questions.

"The Adamant Orb is a crystallization of Dialga's time power," Edmond explains. "We recovered this from an incident involving Dialga here in Sinnoh a while ago. While the orb itself doesn't have enough power to transfer any object through time, it can send energy. Such as Mega Evolution energy. Using these Key stones as catalysts, I sent Mega Evolution energy into the future, and now I'm calling that energy from the past. Mega Aggron is the only exception."

"That's totally cheating!" Sonica yells.

"That's not even all of it," Edmond smirks. "I had my scientists genetically modify my Pokemon beyond their natural abilities!"

"T-that's horrible!" Wanda lets out.

"I'll do anything to win."

"You're despicable," Sonica angrily tells him. "Mia! Let's take this guy!"

Mia stayed silent, holding her glowing arm and looking aside.

"Mia?" Wanda and Sonica turn back to her.

"I… I can't," Mia tells them, squeezing her arm tighter and shaking harder.

"Mia…" Wanda mutters.

Sonica slaps her. Wanda and Mia stand there, stunned.

"What's going on with you?" Sonica yells at Mia.

Mia stays stunned. Sonica grabbed her shoulders.

"Where's the fearless girl the battled against evil teams and rampaging legendary Pokemon? Where's the girl that always looked ahead, never stopping? Where's our friend that we battled together, laughed together, and played together?"

"Mia," Wanda starts. "You're one of the strongest people I know. You were always eager to battle and do what's right. When we battled Mega Rayquaza, you jumped in to fight it first. It was you that pushed me to become one with Altaria. When we battled against each other you wanted to battle Altaria at full power. Even though we were opponents, we were enjoying ourselves."

"It's pointless," Edmond taunts. "She nothing more than small and helpless child. World Champion challenger? Ha! Don't make me laugh. The great daughter of Ash is nothing more than a coward that hides behind her friends!"

"Just shut up!" Sonica yells at him.

"What kind of friend hides behind others?!"

"A friend in need!" Sonica yells again.

"Why did you want to become a trainer in the first place?" Edmond asks out loud.

Mia is struck by the question.

XXX

* * *

" _Daddy!" young Mia runs up to her father._

" _I'm home, Gail," Ash drops on one knee to embrace his daughter as Pikachu plays with Eevee._

" _You were awesome daddy!" Mia tells him. "You look really happy battling him. Was it fun?"_

" _Of course, fighting strong Trainers is really fun. Did you see now Infernape melted the field?"_

" _Mmm Hmmm! And Infernape's Blaze was really cool!"_

" _I think you mean hot," Anabel walks in with Espeon, Espeon goes on to meet with Pikachu and Eevee._

" _Hey Anabel, I'm back," Ash smiles._

" _Welcome home," Anabel smiles back. "Hard to believe you actually made it."_

" _I know I'm usually late, but there's no way I'd miss Gail's first memorable picnic."_

" _Yaaay!" Mia cheered._

" _Hehehe…" Ash and Anabel laughed slightly._

" _Daddy, do you think I can be a trainer like you?"_

" _You want to be a Trainer?" Ash asks._

" _Yes, mommy and daddy are strong trainers. I want to be a strong trainer too! Battling is fun, right?"_

" _Right!" Ash smiles. "It's even more fun if you have friends."_

" _I want to have fun too!"_

" _When you get older," Anabel starts. "You and Ashana can start your journey to be a Trainer. Making friends, making rivals, you can have fun everywhere. But for now, help me get ready for the picnic tomorrow."_

" _Okay!" Mia jumps down and heads to the back._

XXX

* * *

" _Nmm…" Mia stirs quietly_

" _Ione…" Anabel walks over to her side._

" _Mom…mmy?"_

" _I'm here, take it easy."_

" _Where…?"_

" _A hospital, you were hurt but your father saved you."_

" _Daddy?" Mia tries to look around. "Where's daddy?"_

" _He… left, a while ago."_

" _Is he okay?"_

" _He's… he's fine. Just rest for now."_

" _Okay…"_

XXX

* * *

" _Mommy."_

" _Yes dear?"_

" _I think something's wrong with daddy."_

"… _What do you mean?"_

" _He doesn't seem as happy anymore. He looks different on TV now. He's smiling but he doesn't look happy."_

"… _He's… been thinking about a lot of things."_

" _Is that why he hasn't come home in a while?"_

" _Yeah…" Anabel knelt down and petted Mia's hair. "Your father may be the best trainer in the world, but he can be pretty dense."_

" _Did daddy forget how to have fun?"_

"… _Maybe he did…"_

" _Then I'm going to be a strong trainer, I'm going to battle daddy until he's happy! Then he'll come home, right?!"_

 _With tears welling in her eyes Anabel embraces her daughter, "Yeah… make sure you grow up very strong so that your father will come home."_

" _Mommy, you're squishing me!"_

" _Oh, I'm sorry." Anabel releases her._

" _Are you crying mommy?"_

" _It's the onions dear," Anabel says as she wipes her face._

" _Ohh… I don't like onions. Come on Sis, we should start training! Daddy's really strong so we need to be even stronger!"_

 _Mia rushes off with Eevee as Anabel smiles._

XXX

* * *

"Why I became a trainer…" Mia mumbles. She steps forward between Sonica and Wanda. "I wanted to battle my father, just once."

A moment of stunned silence fell over them.

"That's it?" Edmond asks. "That's the reason you became a trainer? Just to battle Ash? Not to get stronger? Not to win the World Championship Master title? Just to battle?"

"That's it," Mia nods. "The purpose of my whole journey is just to battle him. Not to win, not to take his title, just to battle. There's something I need to tell him, something I can only tell him through battling. I've made this far, I've almost turned back because I was afraid I wasn't strong enough. But now what I'm most afraid of… is not being able to reach him again. This may be the only chance I get to tell him, with everything I have, what I want to tell him."

"Mia…" Wanda smiles confidently. "I hope your message gets through to him."

"Heh," Mia chuckles. "My mom said he can be pretty dense, I just need to hit him hard enough so that he gets it."

"Yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Sonica gets pumped up. "You just want to beat your old man up for not seeing you all these years, right?!"

Mia smiles shaking her head. "It's a little more complicated that. But thank you, both of you." Mia then faces her Pokemon. "Thank you too, all of you, especially you Sis. For being with me, believing in me." A light in Mia's arm glows brightly, a light that's different from the one emitting from her scar. "This is…" Mia quickly spread her arms out and clapped her hands together, a pink shockwave flew over Mia's six Pokemon. All of the Pokemon recovered most of their injuries and their energy.

"What was that?" Wanda asks.

"Latias' Healing Wish. No… It's everyone's wish. Ritchie, Melody and everyone else."

"It doesn't matter!" Edmond yells. "I'm going to have my revenge, right here, right now! Aggron!"

Mega Aggron roared out in the girls' direction.

"We'll take care of the Mega Aggron," Sonica suggests.

"No, I'll do it," Mia steps forward. "My father and I… have a history with that Pokemon."

"You mean…" Wanda looks at Mia's glowing arm. "Your arm?"

"Yeah," Mia answers looking at her still glowing arm. "It makes a great night light, though."

"If you're sure," Sonica starts. "We'll make sure those other ones don't get in the way. Meloetta! Let's go!"

"Melo!" Meloetta follows Sonica to one side.

"Mia," Wanda begins "I know you can do it. Altaria, we're going to support Mia. We'll keep the skies clear for her."

Mega Altaria whines. Air kicks up from beneath Wanda's feet, as it blows upwards Wanda's appearance changes. Cloudy feathers sprout from her ankles, wrists and back, her hair became pink and wild as it blows from the wind emitting from Wanda herself. Mega Altaria itself changes with her, the clouds on its body now end in fluffy feathers, their color gradually turning from white at the body to light pink at the tips of the feathers. The main body itself slightly shifts color to match Wanda's clothing. Wanda climbs onto the back of Mega Altaria and flies off.

Mia herself walks forward, towards Edmond and Mega Aggron. Mega Aggron stomps the ground, making it quake with each step. Ashana, Arcanine, Skarmory, Absol, Drapion and Lilligant all walk beside Mia.

Edmond grits his teeth, "Fully healed or not, your Pokemon don't stand a chance against mine."

"Alone, they don't." Mia tells him. "But I'm here, and so are my friends. I'll win here, and then I'll keep going forward to battle my father!"

Mia's Pokemon charge forward.

"Destroy them!" Edmond orders his Pokemon. All five of his Pokemon charge ahead.

Mega Medicham and Mega Swampert are hit by a sonic attack.

"We're your opponents!" Sonica calls out with Meloetta in front of her.

Mega Pidgeot and Mega Aerodactyl avoid blades of air headed for them.

"We won't let you near Mia!" Wanda flies in riding on her Altaria. "We control this space!"

"Aggron!" Edmond calls out. "Autotomize!"

Mega Aggron's body glows until the glowing shatters. Aggron then dashes forward.

"Everyone!" Mia cries out. "Attack!"

Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Air Slash, Dark Pulse and Energy Ball are fired forward. Absol continued running ahead.

"Earthquake!" Edmond orders.

Mega Aggron stomped the ground hard, a wall of earth flies up to block the attacks. The ground continued to break apart towards the group of Pokemon. Absol avoids the cracking, the other grounded Pokemon are blasted by flying gravel. Absol jumps over the earth wall and attacks Aggron with Night Slash. Skarmory follows with Air Slashes. Aggron manages to avoid them. The steel bird dives down with Steel Wing, Absol rushes in with another Night Slash. Aggron grabs Skarmory and slams him into Absol.

A Thunderbolt hits Aggron from behind. Jolteon stands on top of the earth wall firing electric blasts. Mega Aggron charges towards the wall, avoiding the attacks. It slams into the wall, destroying it as Jolteon jumps over the large Pokemon. Behind the wall Lilligant and Arcanine waited. They fired Leaf Storm and Flamethrower. Lilligant's attack ignited into flames. Mega Aggron withstands the combined attack. Jolteon uses Thunderbolt on the other side. Mega Aggron starts to glow.

"Get out of there!" Mia yells.

Jolteon barks to Arcanine and Lilligant then gets away. Arcanine tosses Lilligant onto his back then gets away as Mega Aggron erupts into a dome of energy. The wind blast knocks back Jolteon, Arcanine and Lilligant.

Lilligant tries to pick herself up from the ground.

"Lilligant! Look out!" Mia warns.

The grass Pokemon turns to see Mega Aggron charging at her. Arcanine jumps in front of Lilligant and charges the stampeding steel type with Flame Wheel. Heavy Slam and Flame Wheel crash into each other. Arcanine pushes against Aggron as hard as he can. Aggron takes a step forward, then another. It grabs Arcanine's head and smashes their heads together. Arcanine crumbles to the side. Aggron stands over it.

"Drapion! Dark Pulse!"

Drapion rushes in to save Arcanine. His Dark Pulse hits Mega Aggron, covering it in smoke.

"Now Aqua Tail!"

Drapion swings around with his tail covered in water. The tail hits something inside the smoke cloud, but is caught. The smoke clears, revealing Mega Aggron grabbing Drapion's tail. Drapion tries to free itself, Aggron held on hard, the metal Pokemon raised Drapion up and slammed him back down. Aggron continuously slams Drapion up and down until it was completely knocked out.

"Drapion!"

The behemoth is attacked on the back by Night Slash and Steel Wing. Absol's eyes shined for a moment. Aggron lifted Drapion and slammed him into Skarmory and Absol, sending them flying. Arcanine and Jolteon hits Aggron with Flamethrower and Thunderbolt. Aggron swings Drapion around, forcing them to stop their attacks to avoid hitting their friend.

Aggron stomps the ground, sending an Earthquake towards them. Arcanine and Jolteon speeds around to evade the cracking earth.

"Quick Attack and Extreme Speed!"

Jolteon and Arcanine used their attack's speed to dodge Aggron's attack and hits the monster head on. Aggron hammers down Jolteon with his arm and bats Arcanine with Drapion. Future Sight hits Aggron, clouding his view for a moment. It waves away the smoke to see Lilligant standing before him. Lilligant bows gracefully, then twirls around sending out pink petals in a whirling motion around them. Aggron looks around, seeing the pink petals isolating them from everyone else.

Lilligant bobs back and forth, ready to dance. Aggron swings Drapion around, Lilligant elegantly dodges and jumps with dance moves. At every opening Lilligant swings her arms covered in grass energy, striking Aggron with every swing. Lilligant's nimble movement and graceful techniques pressured Mega Aggron. The plant Pokemon was specifically aiming for Aggron's hands. Absol jumps through the whirling petals and attacks one of Aggron's arms at the same time as Lilligant. The behemoth drops Drapion onto the ground, but quickly counters by punching Lilligant into Absol and both of them are sent flying through the petal storm. Skarmory flies in to grab Drapion's unconscious body then soars away.

"Now Arcanine!" Mia yells. "Flamethrower!"

Arcanine shoots a stream of flame into Lillgant's swirling petals, setting them all ablaze. The whirling inferno towers above the Pokemon.

"Aggron!" Edmond yells. "Earthquake!"

Spikes of earth protrude out of the swirling flames. The burning whirlwind begins to die down. The protruding spikes are launched towards Mia's Pokemon. Her Pokemon dodge and counter what they can. Skarmory destroys one, only to see Mega Aggron coming at it full speed. Aggron's Heavy Slam overwhelms the bird, knocking it out.

"Skarmory!" Mia calls. "Arcanine! Flame Wheel!"

Arcanine charges Mega Aggron, covering itself in flame. The fire canine rolls into a hot wheel. Mega Aggron turns and stomps around to meet Arcanine head on. Mega Aggron catches the burning wheel. Aggron slides back from the impact, but keeps its footing.

"Take it out!" Edmond orders.

Aggron rears back, then headbutts Arcanine. The canine bounces on the ground. Aggron stomps forward to keep the pressure on. Absol strikes from behind. Arcanine scrambles back onto its feet, Absol and Arcanine nod to each other. The two of them use Extreme Speed and Night Slash, attacking Aggron from all angles. Aggron grabs Absol's horn, it slams her into Arcanine, then swings around for its tail to hit the both of them. Both Pokemon are knocked out.

"Sis!" Mia calls. "Thunderbolt!"

Ashana blasts Aggron with Thunderbolt. The giant chases after the smaller mon, but the Jolteon jumps away and blasts Aggron repeatedly.

"Stop fooling around!" Edmond orders. "Earthquake!"

Mega Aggron raised a leg, vines grow underneath Mega Aggron and wraps around the metal behemoth. Mia and Ashana turn to see Lilligant controlling her Leech Seed. Ashana doesn't stop shooting Thunderbolts at it. Aggron struggles with the increasing number and strength of vines. It falls over, covered in vines.

"Sis! Close range full blast!"

Jolteon jumps on top of Aggron, she blasts it as hard as she could. Aggron's body starts to glow.

"Get away! Hurry!" Mia cries.

Ashana jumps away and runs. She flies right past Lilligant, whom stood still. Ashana stops to turn around and bark at her. Liliigant turns her head slightly, then launches a Leaf Storm at Mega Aggron. The leaves encircle the behemoth's glowing body. Mega Aggron unleashes Metal Burst, destroying Leech Seed and pushing against the encircling Leaf Storm. Lilligant pushes back against Mega Aggron's exploding energy. The blast pushes harder against the leafy dome.

"Liii!" Lilligant yells to Ashana.

Ashana silently turns around and escapes the expanding blast that engulfs Lilligant. When the light dies down, Mega Aggron stood at the center of cracked and barren earth. Ashana and Mia stared at the monster.

"The wind's blowing in my favor, Gale!" Edmond taunts. "Yours is about to die!"

"Huh?" Mia looked more confused than threatened. "Hehehe, hahaha! Wow, I thought that you actually knew what my father calls me. But you don't know it at all."

"What!? You're lying! I heard your father call out your name! I remember! I've remembered everything from all those years ago! I've been waiting for a long time for this!"

"There's something I've been waiting for too." Mia tells him confidently. "And you're just in the way."

"AGGGRRROOOON!" Edmond yells at his Pokemon. "Use Autotomize!" Aggron's body glows, and the glow shatters. Aggron charges forward at unbelievable speed for a monster its size.

"Let's do this together Sis!" Mia shuts her eyes.

Ashana's eyes open slowly, there was a quick glint. Aggron tries to run over Ashana, the smaller Pokemon swiftly avoids the rampage. Jolteon fires a Thunderbolt. Aggron punches the ground, a plate of ground rises to block the attack. Ashana appears behind Aggron, Aggron turns, taking a Double Kick to the face. The behemoth recovers quickly and punches Jolteon while she's still in the air.

"Argh!" Mia's head turned from the impact.

Aggron charges again, Ashana gets up and jumps to the side, Aggron turns its body, hitting Ashana with its tail. Mia cries out again, stumbling sideways. Jolteon rolls onto her feet, then fires a Thunderbolt. Aggron takes the blast, it stomps the ground, sending Earthquake to Jolteon. The Electric Pokemon runs around to avoid the cracks. Jolteon dashes, dodges and jumps all over to keep away from the attack. Mega Aggron uses Heavy Slam, along with its increased speed to blindside Ashana.

Mia yells out even louder, feeling pain throughout her whole body. "Not yet… Sis!"

Ashana gets up onto her feet. Her body shines briefly, then turns to Mia concerned. "JOL!"

 _I know Sis… using stronger sync increases the power I give you, but also increases the pain I receive. But Sis, you know how stubborn I can be._

Ashana smirks to herself, then dashes forward at supersonic speed. Her Quick Attack rams Mega Aggron hard enough to cause it to stumble. Mega Aggron tries to swing and punch at the smaller Pokemon. Jolteon uses Quick Attack and Double Kick to overwhelm the behemoth. Aggron catches Ashana and slams her into the ground.

Mia feels the impact all over her body, she collapses onto her knees breathing heavily. Her eyesight blurred as she tried to see her sister being held down. "Sis…"

Jolteon unloads an electric blast onto Aggron. The metal Pokemon releases the electric one. Ashana Quick Attacks Mega Aggron in the face, then Double Kicks off of it backwards, rushing back to Mia. She can sense her sister's struggle to stay conscious. Mia picks herself up from the ground, she wobbles a bit, her vision mixes with Ashana's.

"This is it," Edmond gloats. "After all these years, the revenge I've dreamed of is finally happening! Mega Aggron! Annihilate them!"

Mega Aggron stomps forward slowly, with each step it gets faster, until it runs. The body glows brightly, preparing a Heavy Slam.

"SIS!" Mia summoned the rest of her stamina. "TOGETHER!"

"JOL!" Ashana jumps forward between Mia and Mega Aggron. Her body sparks brilliantly. A lightning bolt strikes her, creating a massive aura of electricity around her. "TEEEE!"

"What is that?!" Edmond asks out loud.

"SIS! THUNDERBOLT!"

"EEEOOON!" Ashana unleashes a massive electric blast towards Mega Aggron. The blast rips up the ground as it flies to the behemoth.

Mega Aggron catches the energy blast. The ground behind him tears apart. Mega Aggron struggles to step forward.

XXX

* * *

"Mia!" Wanda sees the battle happening below her and Mega Altaria. "We need to help!"

Mega Pigeot and Mega Aerodactyl block their path.

"Out of our way!" Wanda orders. "Use Air Slash!"

Mega Altaria sends slash waves through the air. Pidgeot and Aerodectyl avoid the slash waves, Aerodactyl counters by firing Rock Slide.

"Dragon Pulse! Blow them all away!"

Altaria fires an energy ball that eats through the rocks. Pidgeot fires its own Dragon Pulse. The two attacks collide, Mega Altaria and Wanda bursts through the explosion.

"Aerial Ace!" Wanda yells out.

Her and Altaria dart around the sky, they hit Mega Pidgeot from both sides, then ram it downwards. Wanda turns around to see Mega Aerodactyl coat itself in energy, flying in for Giga Impact. See taps Altaria to swing upside down and avoid the attack. Aerodactyl turns its head around, staring at the upside down Altaria and the determined face of Wanda.

"Dragon Meteor!" Wanda commands.

Altaria launches a massive energy ball into Aerodactyl. The energy meteor drags the Pokemon downward into the recovering Pidgeot. The attack explodes into a meteor shower, with Aerodactyl and Pidgeot among the falling stars. Wanda and Mega Altaria fly underneath the explosion, right above Sonica and Meloetta.

Meloetta uses a combination of fighting and dance moves to battle against and around her muscle bound and nimble opponents. Mega Swampert readies a punch.

"Jump!" Sonica calls out. "Then kick!"

The singer jumps above the attack, then runs on its arm to deliver a kick to its face. Mega Medicham fires a Focus Blast.

"Block on your left!"

Meloetta crosses her arms to block the attack. Medicham follows up by Thunder Punching the energy sphere, causing an explosion pushing Meloetta back. Medicham jumps into a Hi Jump Kick behind the smoke cloud.

"Spin!" Sonica warns.

Meloetta twirls to avoid the attack. Medicham hits the ground, recovers then the two of them glare at each other. The two Pokemon engage in close quarters combat with punches, kicks, feints, parries. They speed around the field, making sounds with every impact.

"Look out!"

Meloetta catches Swampert on the corner of her eyes, its arm coming down on her. She sidesteps the Hammer Arm, but the impact on the ground causes her to stumble. Medicham lands in front of Meloetta and its head glows ready to Zen Headbutt her.

"Hyper Voice!" Sonica cries out.

Meloetta found her footing, Medicham rears its head. Medicham swings its head forward, Meloetta screams right before Medicham could hit. The sonic attack stops Medicham cold, Meloetta's voice blows Medicham back into Swampert. The singer stops to take a deep breath then uses Hyper Voice again against both of them. Medicham tries to stand against the stronger and louder sonic attack. Swampert slowly walks forward step by step. Sonica takes out her guitar and starts to play a loud, fast guitar riff to aid Meloetta. Mega Medicham is blown off its feet into the distance. Mega Swampert powers through the music.

"Ready Meloetta?!" Sonica asks, still playing her guitar.

Without stopping her Hyper Voice, Meloetta nods.

"Now! Close Combat!" Sonica jumps to play a louder riff.

Meloetta let out a brief, top of her lungs scream. The sudden boost in volume and impact catches Mega Swampert off guard. Meloetta dashes in.

"Meloeeeet- TATATATATATATATATA..!" Meloetta pounds into Mega Swampert with her fists. Her arms were a blur of speed, all hitting the same small area. Mega Swampert slides back slowly from the repeated impacts. Meloetta leaves glowing musical notes in the form of a constellation on Mega Swampert's chest. Meloetta stopped attacking, leaving Swampert stunned. She turns around and walks forward a few steps. "Meloetta." The notes explode engulfing Swampert, Meloetta strikes a confident pose.

"Let's go help Mia!" Sonica puts her guitar away and rushes off.

XXX

* * *

Mega Aggron pushes back against the massive electric beam. It tries to step forward, the beam pushes it back. Mega Aggron rears back one fist, it punches the energy beam, creating enough of an opening to follow with another punch. Aggron moves forward, punching back the energy blast. Ashana lets out more power. Aggron brings both arms above its head and slams them into the beam creating a bigger opening, before the beam could hit Aggron again, the behemoth spun its body around, its massive tail swings around into the beam fast enough to knock it back. The electric blast flies back towards Ashana. Both Ashana and Mia see it coming at them.

"AAAAHHHH!" Mia screams out as her and her sister's full attack comes back at them. The overwhelming pain of a full sync engulfs her whole body. She holds herself to try and endure the pain.

Ashana herself is enveloped by pure lightning energy and is fighting against the pain.

"Mia!" Wanda and Sonica arrive to see her struggling. Meloetta and Altaria stand beside the electric dome.

"Mia, cut the sync!" Sonica tells her. "If you keep this up-!"

"Si-Sis…" Mia continues fighting, trying to keep her sync with Ashana. She tries to see where her sister is, only for her vison to blur into nothing but blinding light. Mia's legs buckled, her body falls.

Sonica catches her. "Mia! Mia! MIA!"

The electric dome surrounding Ashana transforms into brilliant blinding light. Sonica, Wanda, Meloetta and Altaria shield their eyes.

"What's happening?!" Wanda asks.

The light begins to subside, everyone starts to see Ashana standing in the middle of the light, she's the one emitting it. Her spiked fur shines like metal.

"She's… using lightning as armor," Sonica observes.

The metallic looking Jolteon disappears from Meloetta and Altaria's view, sending large amounts of land into the air with its instantaneous tackle on Mega Aggron. The behemoth stumbles back a few steps, stunned at the power and speed it felt. Ashana just glares silently.

 _Sis…_

Mega Aggron uses Autotomize once more. It roars out then charges the golden Pokemon. Ashana dashes towards it, ripping up chunks of land once again. Aggron braces for the impact, successfully blocking her Quick Attack, it punches her to the ground.

 _Sis…._

Ashana recovers quickly and disappears from view, Aggron defends itself again only to be struck from behind by an electric blast. Ashana then attacks from all angles. Quick Attack, Double Kick, Thunder Bolt, Pin Missile. All of her attacks happen so fast it's as if there's more than one Ashana attacking simultaneously.

 _We can do this, together._

"I've never seen Ashana move like this," Wanda watches in awe. "Even in Dragon Force I can barely keep up with it."

Sonica stares at Mia's lifeless body, "Mia, what did you do?"

Mega Aggron's body glows brightly. Ashana predicts the next attack and creates distance between them while firing off electric blasts in the meantime. Aggron explodes into a blinding light of steel energy, but hits nothing. Ashana waits for the attack to dissipate. Mega Aggron doesn't, it leaps out of the light dome above the Jolteon ready to Heavy Slam her. Ashana evades easily but Mega Aggron's weight slamming the ground causes a shockwave that unbalances her. Aggron brings both fists down on the ground, creating an Earthquake that rips the ground apart. Ashana is blown back by the earthen blast. Pieces of land jut out as the field spreads apart.

"Altaria!" Wanda calls for her Pokemon. She and Meloetta help Sonica carry Mia onto the dragon and escape the battlefield.

Ashana dashes and jumps around to avoid the pillars of earth threatening her. Mega Aggron is surrounded by a wall of rock and the only way to it is the crevasse the Earthquake created. Ashana darts between the canyon walls, jumping between them and any falling rocks in the way. Aggron slams the rocks walls on either side causing large pillars to fall into the fissure, Ashana continues jumping forward between rocks.

Mega Aggron swings its body around, its tail catches Ashana in the air and slams her through its rock walls. The earthen structure comes toppling down on both of them, Ashana's body is punched out violently and it stumbles on the ground. Groggily, Ashana gets up to see Mega Aggron emerge from the pile of rubble. Ashana readies herself for another attack.

 _No… we are more than together…_

The Jolteon dashes forward again with Quick Attack, tearing up the ground behind her. Aggron waits for it to come, Jolteon's head hits Aggron's arm. Aggron tries to counterattack, Ashana Double Kicks its head, causing it to fall over backwards. Leaping into the air Ashana fires Pin Missile all over and around the steel Pokemon. She lands on top of the behemoth and leaps even higher, charging up her body for a final Thunderbolt. Just she's ready to fire the attack, Ashana looks at her fallen opponent, not just with her eyes, but Mia's eyes as well.

 _We are one…_

A blinding flash engulfs the area as well as create a pillar of light that shoots into the sky.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Whoo, this was one hell of a chapter to write. Like the previous one I could've split this one up into multiple chapters, but I didn't want to drag out this part of the story so here it is in one go.

Unfortunately this is where I have to abandon writing for a bit so that I can do other things (school's been really hogging my time, and I have a large video game backlog I want to get through). I will come back to finish this... eventually.


End file.
